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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."
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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?
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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.
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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.
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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?
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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:
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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.
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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
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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).
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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?
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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.....
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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....
Hellow,
Well i have done a factory Reset and Wipe Partiition/cache from Sgh-i727 Recovery Mode (Stock Rom) and i still can see all the files that i have in internal SD Card. The phone has return to factory settings, but the data still remains. I have already done a Back Up of all my files using Titanium Back up but the problem still remains 6 GBS of information i had before the reset 6 GB i have now after the reset.
Any Ideas? Does not suppose to erase all the data the factory reset function?
Thank you
Constanine.
1. Factory reset will NOT touch your internal SD partition, meaning all your personal stuffs as well as some folders created by apps will be intact.
2. If you want to wipe all those, try do format usb or something.
3. This is for i777, not i727.
Oh i see. Thank you very much for your answer. To do a format to Internal SD Card what i am supposed to do? Sorry for the wrong thread.
dreico33 said:
Oh i see. Thank you very much for your answer. To do a format to Internal SD Card what i am supposed to do? Sorry for the wrong thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Type "format SD" into Google and see.
From me to you.
None of the custom recoveries will wipe sdcard in recovery unless you specifically wipe it in the menus. Theres an entire option just for that purpose
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Hi everybody. First time poster. After 4 hours scouring forums and other sites yesterday, I never saw this precise question asked or answered.
I have an HTC DNA that I'm selling on Swappa soon. Of course, I wanted to wipe the internal storage. [I promise this isn't going to be a "What's the best way to wipe my device" thread,]
I ultimately went with:
1. Encrypt device
2. Fastboot Erase Boot, System, Data, and Recovery
3. Flash CWM Recovery
4. Format all partitions in CWM Recovery
4. Sideload ViperDNA.zip
5. Install ViperDNA.zip
And so here comes the question, in the future, shouldn't I just be able to format the /Data/ partition and be done with it? After all, if internal storage--the /SDCard/ partition---is found at /Data/Media, shouldn't a format of /Data/ wipe the internal storage?
If the answer is "yes," then why is there a second option in CWM for "Format /Data and /Data/Media (/SDCard)"? The second option seems redundant of simply formatting /Data/ (which would include /Data/Media). However, when I run the second format option--the one that explicitly references /SDCard/, it takes noticeably longer than simply formatting /Data. And that suggests that there's more going on with the second option.
Perhaps the answer is that when you Format only /Data/, the phone leaves /Data/Media alone. If that's the answer, then that all makes sense. But I haven't seen that stated definitively anywhere.
Thanks in advance!!
ThisAndroidDude said:
Hi everybody. First time poster. After 4 hours scouring forums and other sites yesterday, I never saw this precise question asked or answered.
I have an HTC DNA that I'm selling on Swappa soon. Of course, I wanted to wipe the internal storage. [I promise this isn't going to be a "What's the best way to wipe my device" thread,]
I ultimately went with:
1. Encrypt device
2. Fastboot Erase Boot, System, Data, and Recovery
3. Flash CWM Recovery
4. Format all partitions in CWM Recovery
4. Sideload ViperDNA.zip
5. Install ViperDNA.zip
And so here comes the question, in the future, shouldn't I just be able to format the /Data/ partition and be done with it? After all, if internal storage--the /SDCard/ partition---is found at /Data/Media, shouldn't a format of /Data/ wipe the internal storage?
If the answer is "yes," then why is there a second option in CWM for "Format /Data and /Data/Media (/SDCard)"? The second option seems redundant of simply formatting /Data/ (which would include /Data/Media). However, when I run the second format option--the one that explicitly references /SDCard/, it takes noticeably longer than simply formatting /Data. And that suggests that there's more going on with the second option.
Perhaps the answer is that when you Format only /Data/, the phone leaves /Data/Media alone. If that's the answer, then that all makes sense. But I haven't seen that stated definitively anywhere.
Thanks in advance!!
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I dont see the point to encrypt the device
and second in twrp there is a "wipe internal storage" option that wipes the internal storage, cwm i think they just call it data
.torrented said:
I dont see the point to encrypt the device
and second in twrp there is a "wipe internal storage" option that wipes the internal storage, cwm i think they just call it data
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the input. The reason I think encrypting is good, is that it serves the purpose of overwriting the sectors with data (in this case, encrypted data). Of course, I know solid state memory isn't necessarily as susceptible to data recovery for failure to overwrite as magnetic media, but I wanted to be safe.
With regards to TWRP's "wipe internal storage" option, I'm sure that works well. CWM has something similar in the "format /data and /data/media" option.
However, my main question still remains. If Internal Storage is found on the data partition at /data/media, then does a format of /data (in CWM or fastboot) take care of the internal storage? I don't think it does (based on the two different options in CWM and the fact that formatting /data/ and /data/media takes longer than simply formatting /data), and I'm just trying to understand why.
ThisAndroidDude said:
Thanks for the input. The reason I think encrypting is good, is that it serves the purpose of overwriting the sectors with data (in this case, encrypted data). Of course, I know solid state memory isn't necessarily as susceptible to data recovery for failure to overwrite as magnetic media, but I wanted to be safe.
With regards to TWRP's "wipe internal storage" option, I'm sure that works well. CWM has something similar in the "format /data and /data/media" option.
However, my main question still remains. If Internal Storage is found on the data partition at /data/media, then does a format of /data (in CWM or fastboot) take care of the internal storage? I don't think it does (based on the two different options in CWM and the fact that formatting /data/ and /data/media takes longer than simply formatting /data), and I'm just trying to understand why.
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Click to collapse
well, since the sdcard is not external, one wipes everything but the sdcard and then the other will wipe everything including data/media
if you are doing a fresh rom install, you dont want to wipe the sdcard if you have any backups or the rom you are installing. thats where the wipe data comes into play, however when you want to go ahead and restore it to stock or just clean out the sdcard thats where the second one takes over.
Thanks for the additional thoughts. In my case, since I wanted to wipe everything, it made sense to do the /data and /data/media wipe.
I think we both agree about the difference between the two wipes. I think it's just a bit confusing that CWM's option to wipe /data doesn't really wipe that entire partition--instead, it leaves /data/media alone.
I my DCIM and a few other folders, were wiped!? Factory reset is not support to wipe either SD card. What happened here? Is there a possibility of permissions, rescanning (I tried manually in the AOKP kernel settings) not bringing up the files?
Trying to figure out how the hell my internal sd card got wiped. I did have to wipe data, to go back to an older recovery but that again should not touch the sd card, it never has in the past. The only thing that makes me think otherwise is in the newer version of TWRP it is mounted oddly (under emu/storage) as opposed to the usualy direct method of sdcard or /external sd
Help! At the very least don't want to make this time consuming mistake again.
What really confused the hell out of me was I went back to my 4.1.2 build to get some files/check some settings, and took some screenshots. All I did was a factory reset in TWRP and restored my newer Kitkat, and none of the screenshots were anywhere to be found. I am hella confused here.