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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....
Okay, so my phone wasn't sending messages all of a sudden. I have a P769 on jelly bean rooted. I restarted it and it got stuck in a bootloop over and over again after countless battery removals. I used CWM and tried to restore my backup of JB rooted, and all I got was a bunch of force closes. So I restored to my 10G rooted on ICS. All of my Google apps were gone and I went to take a picture and it said my internal memory was full and wouldn't read my SD card. I did factory resets and nothing works. I'm not sure what else to try.. any help would be appreciated!
Edit: I finally got JB to load and it would scan my SD card, then reboot itself while it was still up and running? I could see my backlights on my buttons flashing. So I took out my SD card, same thing. I wiped the cache and reformatted my SD card and now i'm getting an error message saying that my UIDs are inconsistent and it won't let me do a thing on the phone. My phone was fine 12 hours ago.. I haven't downloaded a thing or accessed anything at all.
dcon025 said:
Okay, so my phone wasn't sending messages all of a sudden. I have a P769 on jelly bean rooted. I restarted it and it got stuck in a bootloop over and over again after countless battery removals. I used CWM and tried to restore my backup of JB rooted, and all I got was a bunch of force closes. So I restored to my 10G rooted on ICS. All of my Google apps were gone and I went to take a picture and it said my internal memory was full and wouldn't read my SD card. I did factory resets and nothing works. I'm not sure what else to try.. any help would be appreciated!
Edit: I finally got JB to load and it would scan my SD card, then reboot itself while it was still up and running? I could see my backlights on my buttons flashing. So I took out my SD card, same thing. I wiped the cache and reformatted my SD card and now i'm getting an error message saying that my UIDs are inconsistent and it won't let me do a thing on the phone. My phone was fine 12 hours ago.. I haven't downloaded a thing or accessed anything at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know the UID inconsistent error from my previous phone. Wipe data. Solves the problem.
Sent from my LG-P760 using Tapatalk 2
How did you 'reformatted sdcard' ? Are you talking about internal memory(built in) or external memory (microsd)?
If you have some fresh backup system like 20x STOCK or whatever. (you can download it from XDA)
After this actions it will totally format your phone. You will no longer have system, apps, files that were on internal memory. It's kind of format C: on computer! So make sure you have backup on your external sdcard (microsd) and make sure to don't format your external sdcard.
I did it few times when I was messing around with custom ROMs so it's safe. I'm owner of P760 but don't think so if it will cause some problems.
1.Then you can go into CWM and mounts and storage and format following:
/cache
/data
/system
/sdcard - it is INTERNAL MEMORY (built in)
2.and then Advanced -> wipe dalvik cache
3. backup and restore -> restore from external sdcard -> choose your backup
maxver0 said:
How did you 'reformatted sdcard' ? Are you talking about internal memory(built in) or external memory (microsd)?
If you have some fresh backup system like 20x STOCK or whatever. (you can download it from XDA)
After this actions it will totally format your phone. You will no longer have system, apps, files that were on internal memory. It's kind of format C: on computer! So make sure you have backup on your external sdcard (microsd) and make sure to don't format your external sdcard.
I did it few times when I was messing around with custom ROMs so it's safe. I'm owner of P760 but don't think so if it will cause some problems.
1.Then you can go into CWM and mounts and storage and format following:
/cache
/data
/system
/sdcard - it is INTERNAL MEMORY (built in)
2.and then Advanced -> wipe dalvik cache
3. backup and restore -> restore from external sdcard -> choose your backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've wiped the data like the previous answer, and I also tried this.. I went into CWM and formatted all of this and wiped the dalvik cache, then tried to restore from external sdcard, which I tried my JB and ICS and neither worked. Right now I am on my JB and it just gets stuck at the T-Mobile 4G logo.
EDIT: I tried formatting everything and restoring from my external sdcard and my phone won't recognize my sdcard anymore. It says there are no files on it, but I try it on another phone and I can see the files.
I've had something along these lines before on my Huawei Honor. I never did work out what was wrong. I asked on xda and it was suggested that the partitions on the phone had resized/gone corrupt.
I'm not saying this is what has happened in your case. The sudden force closes and then no boot is what my Honor did.
Can you get software update mode to come on? Switch off, hold volume up and plug in usb from pc.
Sent from my LG-P768
Yes I had the same problem when I upgraded from ics to jb. Never figured out what happened but I copied all my files to the computer then I formatted my external sd. After the format I just copied all the stuff back on the card. Also cwm doesn't work for the second partition. Good luck.
Sent from my LG-P769(20d) using the xda-developers app. Press the thanks button if I helped you.
Hi
Guess the question is relevant to all devices Anroaid.
I searched and read in many places but I still did not fully understand how is the internal sd card is devided, what each part contains and how to "clean up" things that are not relevant to more
My Galaxy S1 device internal card size is 8G.
Checking system -> storage indicates it is devided to two: 1.48 Internal storage and a 5.64 USB storage.
The first question is where is a almost 1G to complete to the total of 8G?
I understand that the internal storage contains the operating system and applications installations.
however,I can see the the usb storage also contains folders of past and current installed applications, of course in addition to music, pictures etc.
Now I want to install a new ROM and clean everything that is not nessacary.
I understand that when installing a new rom the internal storage actually completely cleared and re-installed. Is it true?
What about usb storage? Whether and how to re-format it? Is it necessary at all to do that?
Thanks
OJNSim said:
Hi
Guess the question is relevant to all devices Anroaid.
I searched and read in many places but I still did not fully understand how is the internal sd card is devided, what each part contains and how to "clean up" things that are not relevant to more
My Galaxy S1 device internal card size is 8G.
Checking system -> storage indicates it is devided to two: 1.48 Internal storage and a 5.64 USB storage.
The first question is where is a almost 1G to complete to the total of 8G?
I understand that the internal storage contains the operating system and applications installations.
however,I can see the the usb storage also contains folders of past and current installed applications, of course in addition to music, pictures etc.
Now I want to install a new ROM and clean everything that is not nessacary.
I understand that when installing a new rom the internal storage actually completely cleared and re-installed. Is it true?
What about usb storage? Whether and how to re-format it? Is it necessary at all to do that?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installing a new ROM won't clear all the internal storage. You have to do it manually. In stock, it is recommended to do a factory reset after the first boot. While in custom ROM you have to wipe data, wipe cache and wipe dalvic cache before the installation.
It is not necessary to clear the data in USB storage.
jabrif said:
Installing a new ROM won't clear all the internal storage. You have to do it manually. In stock, it is recommended to do a factory reset after the first boot. While in custom ROM you have to wipe data, wipe cache and wipe dalvic cache before the installation.
It is not necessary to clear the data in USB storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lately the device has strange behavior every once in a while - and I would like to clean it as much as possible
I am using custom rom, hopefully wiping everything will do the job.
Yet, I do want to clean the internal storage as well.
What can be done regarding that? can I format it?
If yes - how, and how to recreate the standard folders tree?
If not - what can be done?
tx
OJNSim said:
Lately the device has strange behavior every once in a while - and I would like to clean it as much as possible
I am using custom rom, hopefully wiping everything will do the job.
Yet, I do want to clean the internal storage as well.
What can be done regarding that? can I format it?
If yes - how, and how to recreate the standard folders tree?
If not - what can be done?
tx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wiping data will clear your system memory, ie app data
If you want to go deep, there are options available in CWM recovery under Mounts and storage menu to format /system, /Data, /Cache, /sdcard and even External sdcard,
OJNSim said:
Lately the device has strange behavior every once in a while - and I would like to clean it as much as possible
I am using custom rom, hopefully wiping everything will do the job.
Yet, I do want to clean the internal storage as well.
What can be done regarding that? can I format it?
If yes - how, and how to recreate the standard folders tree?
If not - what can be done?
tx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
jabrif said:
wiping data will clear your system memory, ie app data
If you want to go deep, there are options available in CWM recovery under Mounts and storage menu to format /system, /Data, /Cache, /sdcard and even External sdcard,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the thing...
I am trying to understand what the purpose of each option - and eventually what are the steps the order, to achieve the cleanest possible device with the rom I want to flash
I actually just noticed that in the previous post I wrote Internal storage rather than USB storage. Anyway..I need please some more accurate information.
Is that possible to format only the USB storage?
Or is there a way to safely remove / clean / wipe old stuff, like applications' folders that are not in used anymore, and other things I am not aware off?
tx
I am a complete noob and got my lesson for messing up with my phone. I have an already rooted SGH i777 and was trying to flash OMNI Rom for 4.4. I wiped emmc by mistake. Although I did back my stuff up, they are no where to be found.I get cannot mount SD card error through CWM v6. I read somewhere that this is resultant of having no operating system in my phone anymore.
My phone is not recognised by computer. But I can access an external microSD card while booting recovery using CWM. Please help me as I am completely lost without my phone. You patience is deeply appreciated.
stupidnoob1 said:
...but I can access an external microSD card while booting recovery using CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's the case, you should be able to put a rom on the micro SD card and simply flash it in recovery. You may have lost your backups, but if you can flash a rom via the SD card you ought to be fine.
Let us know if you need any more help,
sent from the i777
I'm not clear what you mean by "I wiped EMMC." Can you please describe exactly what you did, and describe the options you used if it was through recovery, which I assume it would have been.
If you put the phone into download mode while Odin3 is open on the desktop, does Odin3 recognize the phone?
FYI: TWRP file browser sees internal memory as "emmc". From the advanced wipe menu of TWRP, exists the option to wipe internal memory.
edit: really annoyed that I am limited to eight thanks at a PC, which has a much more comfortable interface than the XDA app, where I have unlimited thanks to offer my peers.
This is what happened
Dear all,
Thank you for your help. This is what I did. I tried to install Omni ROM for 4.4. I I downloaded the .zip file for the ROM and Gapps package zip and SuperUser zip. I went to CWM based recovery mode and wiped data/factory reset and wipe cache partition and in advanced wipe dalvik cache.( I did not run any wipe script as mentioned in this forum. I would have avoided all this if i actually paid attention and read the correct way of flashing here.)
I then went on to mounts and storage and did format/cache , system, data and preload. But also format /emmc
After that no ROM could be flashed and I could not access any recoveries. I realised my error when I saw the log that No files are found and couldnt open directory.
Update :
My phone is not recognized by Odin v1.85 and I also put a SAMSUNG_UCLE5.zip for SGHi777 given by a friend on to a microSD card and tried flashing that ROM from external microSD.
The log says:
I:Can't partition unsafe device: /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
I tried to partition just to see if it works. This time the log says
I:Can't format unknown volume :/external_sd. I never had an external sd card, but I gather that the system was partitioned in such a way that one chunk is considered external_sd.
Odin doesnt recognise it in download mode. I tried every USB port, changed data cables, tried different drivers available on Samsung website.
Please tell me I didn't ruin my phone. Any help is deeply appreciated.
stupidnoob1 said:
Dear all,
Thank you for your help. This is what I did. I tried to install Omni ROM for 4.4. I I downloaded the .zip file for the ROM and Gapps package zip and SuperUser zip. I went to CWM based recovery mode and wiped data/factory reset and wipe cache partition and in advanced wipe dalvik cache.( I did not run any wipe script as mentioned in this forum. I would have avoided all this if i actually paid attention and read the correct way of flashing here.)
I then went on to mounts and storage and did format/cache , system, data and preload. But also format /emmc
After that no ROM could be flashed and I could not access any recoveries. I realised my error when I saw the log that No files are found and couldnt open directory.
Update :
My phone is not recognized by Odin v1.85 and I also put a SAMSUNG_UCLE5.zip for SGHi777 given by a friend on to a microSD card and tried flashing that ROM from external microSD.
The log says:
I:Can't partition unsafe device: /dev/block/mmcblk1p1
I tried to partition just to see if it works. This time the log says
I:Can't format unknown volume :/external_sd. I never had an external sd card, but I gather that the system was partitioned in such a way that one chunk is considered external_sd.
Odin doesnt recognise it in download mode. I tried every USB port, changed data cables, tried different drivers available on Samsung website.
Please tell me I didn't ruin my phone. Any help is deeply appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is beyond my level of understanding. I'm not sure what block 1p1 is. All of the partitions are designated as 0px where x is a number 1-15~.
I assume you've tried all the variables to get Odin to recognize the phone in download mode. Since Odin doesn't recognize download mode, I don't know of anything else to do but send it to someone with jtag equipement. It'll cost you maybe 40 or 50 bucks, but at least you can get your phone back. The person most trusted in the forums here for this sort of repair is Josh at Mobile Tech Videos.
Hi, I’m new so please be gentle….
How do I recover internal storage errors on Motorola Xoom MZ604.
Trying to upgrade Xoom to Omni 5.1.1 wingray, It installs but just blinks and antennae twitch - no access (even after sitting overnight) also tried Omni 4.4.4 no difference.
Went back to check TWRP3SD and found errors when wiping. Searched the internet (XDADevelop and elsewhere) for days and could find nothing for a fix. (BTW - I never have used a password on my Xoom)
Mounting internal storage (which has 0MB) indicates “Unable to mount storage”. Also, fails to mount /data and /cache, both with (Invalid argument)
Data and Cache have 0MB size and when trying to repair them, e2fsck gives error 8. System has size of 1007MB and e2fsck returns an error 4 when attempting repair. Also can’t wipe dalvik. Tried changing system from ext4 to FAT - error changing file system
Tried 3 versions of TWRP - 2.4.4.0-wingray/2.6.3.0-wingray/twrp3sd - no change in errors.
Funny - tried to fastboot flash recovery with multiple versions of CWM and all images error and can’t be sent.
In the beginning TWRP couldn’t see/mount the SD card and I believe at that time it mounted internal storage and had a value for Mbs (tho I can remember the amount). I went through the process of wiping and didn’t pay any attention if it worked or not. Sometime after (don’t ask me how) it could see the SDcard and I could install the ZIPs
Also, before this process when Xoom was in Cynogen, when I connected to windows PC (via USB) I could see internal storage and SDcard - now in TWRP, I just see SDcard. When OMNI come up there is no USB connection.
I must have tried factory reset, format data, repair or change file system about 50 times with no change (bordering on insanity maybe?)
I can supply a recovery.log if it will help.
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Solved!
A big THANK YOU to everyone that helped.
I used the instructions at https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1052644 (thanks Eric Dabbs)
And found the xoom software downloads at http://www.xoomforums.com/forum/motorola-xoom-faq/11756-xoom-software-downloads.html (xoomforums)
This allowed entry into the initial rudimentary recovery whereby cache was deleted and a factory reset was performed. This version (3.0.1?) had about 3-4 updates. After applying all the updates, internal and external storage could be seen.
Then, upgraded TWRP to 2.7.1.0 big part. Internal storage was available and wiped all partitions (finally success) and installed a homemade Omni 4.4.4. Then, cleaned everything up in TWRP and installed a homemade OMNI 5.1.1. All working fine!
I see that there is a 6.0.1 Marshmallow for wingray….wish me luck!