[Q] questions before rom flashing for the first time - T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-T989

I have been rooted for awhile now, but I have held off from flashing a rom. I don't want to introduce any problems as things work good for the most part. I am interested in flashing though mainly for better battery life as I have read about from various roms and to remove CIQ and bloat.
I am rooted on stock rom, made a backup with CWM, and used Titianium backup for my apps. I have been reading up on flashing roms, and I am confused about the wipe. Do some roms require different wiping than others? Aren't there like three different types of wipe from CWM? Does wiping erase data on the internal SD card?
Any things I need to look out for that could cause issues? Any recommendations on which rom would be best to try out first? Thanks for any tips.

bigcletus said:
I have been rooted for awhile now, but I have held off from flashing a rom. I don't want to introduce any problems as things work good for the most part. I am interested in flashing though mainly for better battery life as I have read about from various roms and to remove CIQ and bloat.
I am rooted on stock rom, made a backup with CWM, and used Titianium backup for my apps. I have been reading up on flashing roms, and I am confused about the wipe. Do some roms require different wiping than others? Aren't there like three different types of wipe from CWM? Does wiping erase data on the internal SD card?
Any things I need to look out for that could cause issues? Any recommendations on which rom would be best to try out first? Thanks for any tips.
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Some ROMs wipe during the install , some ROMs don't ..
At the very least you should wipe your Dalvik cache ...
You can wipe your cache if you like, if you wipe anything else, it is up to you or up to the ROM ..
Honestly , if you are installing a completely different ROM a full wipe is usually best, if upgrading the same ROM, usually a Dalvik wipe is all you need ...
Some people , me included, are on the brave side and only wipe the Dalvik and give the ROM a shot, usually though I end up doing a full wipe ..
A good tip is also to run the "Fix Permissions" under advanced in CWM after flashing a ROM/Theme/MOD ..

Just follow the instructoins the dev has given. I always wipe before installing a custom rom to avoid problems later.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App

badaphooko01 said:
Just follow the instructoins the dev has given. I always wipe before installing a custom rom to avoid problems later.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using XDA App
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DITTO!! ... I should have added this to my post, this should be your first choice ...

Related

[Q] New ROM without wiping data & cache

I have upgraded from my rooted 2.1 to the rooted official HTC 2.2. However to avoid having to reinstall things and setup my phone I did not wipe the data & cache before flashing the ROM.
Is this a particularly bad idea for some reason? Everything seems to work OK... so far!
elziko said:
I have upgraded from my rooted 2.1 to the rooted official HTC 2.2. However to avoid having to reinstall things and setup my phone I did not wipe the data & cache before flashing the ROM.
Is this a particularly bad idea for some reason? Everything seems to work OK... so far!
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Click to collapse
hm, did you do nandroid backup + titanium backup all data etc?
kmetek said:
hm, did you do nandroid backup + titanium backup all data etc?
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Click to collapse
yes I have a full nandroid backup of my original ROM should anything go wrong. I didn't do a titanium backup though because I thought that not wiping the data & cache would be easier.
If it doesn't work out then I can revert to my nandroid backup and start again, this time WITH a titanium backup.
I'm wondering what sort of problems I should expect?
elziko said:
I'm wondering what sort of problems I should expect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem issue of not wiping data is kinda random... Sometimes when you flash a different ROM despite not wiping data it would work and sometimes it wouldnt.
When upgrade your ROM and flash the same ROM but with different version, you can do it without wiping. The impact should be minimum.
When you flash a different ROM that the currently using, there is a chance that not wiping might result in a boot-loop or the ROM not working as it should be.
The main guideline should be to flash any ROM and do a full wipe if you get a boot-loop or find any issue with the ROM. Doing a full wipe when flashing different ROMs is also recomended.
OK, thanks. Since I have all the backups to go back if needs be I think I'll carry on and see if I have any issues.
elziko said:
I have upgraded from my rooted 2.1 to the rooted official HTC 2.2. However to avoid having to reinstall things and setup my phone I did not wipe the data & cache before flashing the ROM.
Is this a particularly bad idea for some reason? Everything seems to work OK... so far!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Personally, I think it's a risky.
However, wait until you get problems, then do a full wipe, including Davlik cache and do NOT restore apps from a backup after.

[Q] How to ensure a clean ROM install

After playing around with several ROM / kernel combinations I am looking to return to the latest stock Rom. I have the PC36IMG file on my SDcard and will be installing via ClockworkMod recovery. What is the proper procedure to ensure the cleanest possible installation? Im a bit scared of all the options in recovery such as all the format options in the partitions menu. Do I need to format everything? Will any files be carried over? I know I will need to re install Clockwork and SU app just want to make sure everything is as clean as possible. Thanks in advance.
cleanest possible? Flash this in recover. It wipes 100% of every every time.
Courtesy of Calk.
If you are just changing kernels, choose wipe catch and delv catch.
Changing to a different rom you need to wipe everything.
Thanks for the tip. I am running a custom kernel so I'd be looking to wipe all of those files as well as the ROM. The ROM I am using is just a re packaged RUU, does the RUU completely wipe all data or will I still need to manually wipe?
You should always manually wipe. I never count on something else to do it for me. When I am changing roms I always wipe data/factory reset, cache and davlick, plus I use calkulin's format all tool that the other responder to your question attached to his post. That way you know nothing will be left over. Before you do all that, remember to make a backup of your current configuration just in case something goes wrong. I have been bailed out by nandroid backup a few times.
Also one more thing, there is a Rom on here that is the latest stock already rooted which would make it much easier on you. You could just wipe and flash and still have SU and all other benefits of having root. Just a suggestion.
I found the stock rom thread. It has both odexed and deodexed version. Odexed will probably boot faster, but deodexed can be themed and/or modded. Heres the link: Stock 3.70 EVO Rooted
I reccommend clearing the cache, and then wiping the dalvik to ensure a clean rom. After that, just flash your rom. As always if you are unsure, you can backup your SD card.

MIUI - stuck on bootloader

so im trying to get MIUI on my evo, but when i flash it it sticks at the sprint bootloader. i got the rom from MIUI. anyone help?
Did you wipe everything before flashing? Have you tried other kernels?
i have wiped data and cache. and im sorry but im new at this, what is a kernel
first of all, try also wiping data ( i kno its hard, just back up with titanium backup), system, boot, and battery stats. that should boot right up.
Did you wipe dalvik? You need to wipe data/cache/dalvik when switching ROMs.
If you don't know what a kernel is then I HIGHLY suggest you spend a little time reading up on all this because that is Android 101. You should have known what a kernel is before attempting to flash anything. A kernel is basically the interface between the software and hardware of your phone. It has all the drivers and instructions that tell your hardware what to do. They are flashed the same way ROMs are flashed and can affect performance dramatically. Different kernels perform differently on different EVOs so you need to find one that works well for your device. Sometimes the kernels that come packaged with ROMs don't work well on some EVOs and can cause booting and performance problems.
Mas wipey before flashy! Wipe all data, save for sd card, twice before flashing this rom. The savaged kernel that comes with the rom is just fine. Also, I would avoid titanium backup like the plague, especially if you are going to use MIUI.
Swyped from my CM7 EvO

[Q] When flashing a new ROM and setup..

Whenever I switch ROM's I like to wipe everything (of course), flash the ROM, and then flash all the things I want included in my ROM. Generally I end up flashing the ROM, a kernel, dta2sd, and vipermod all in one session and then reboot. When I do this I always get 2 bootloops or so and then it'll run normally. I just want to make sure that's ok/normal or if instead I should do everything one at a time?
Some say it is a good idea to flash dalvik after flashing everything. Maybe give that a try. It seems to work for me.
Sorry, what do you mean by flash dalvik?
I think he means "wipe dalvik after flashing everything". It's something I do, and see a lot of people recommend.
You should try doing them one at a time. I do the ROM and A2SD, reboot, then the Kernel in a separate flash.
BTW, 2 gig SD Card is really small. You should upgrade to 8, at least.
Sorry. Yes, I meant wipe dalvik, not flash.
Ok, thanks guys. I'll keep that in mind.

[Q] Question about flashing Roms.

How do I flash a new version of a ROM without re installing all my apps or contacts? For example if I have v1 of a person's ROM and they upgrade to v2, How would I flash the new version of the ROM without having to redo all my apps, contacts, email etc...?
All you do is flash the updated ROM the wipe cache and dalvik then reboot
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
daniel4653 said:
All you do is flash the updated ROM the wipe cache and dalvik then reboot
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2
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Ok thank you so much.
Simpoh said:
Ok thank you so much.
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Where he is right, you should still do a full wipe even when flashing the same rom if its a firmware upgrade, or major backend framework has been modified.
If you do a android backup prior to flashing, you can do an advanced restore of data only, from your nandroid backup, and all of your apps & data will restore just as it was before - while maintaining the integrity of the updated version of the ROM you use.
Super easy, super fast, super efficient.
ROM - Odexed Blue LJ7 JB "Holy Grail"
Kernel - KT747
Baseband - LJ7
Sent from my Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 using XDA Premium
clarify best clean install, ie what needs to be wiped
I posted in a different thread, "moment to epic now S3" asking basically what constitutes a full wipe when flashing a rom, or flashing mods. On my epic CWM it was pretty clearly stated in almost all OP wipe all 3, times 3. If not it was said wipe davlik and cache times 3. I'm using the twrp recovery and there are so many wipe options, and I don't know which ones are necessary for a clean install when flashing a new ROM. My phone was giving my so much trouble yesterday i wiped all but the external and flashed a stock rom, then odined a stock rooted to be back at square one. But I don't want to flash a new rom until I here from others the cleanest way to install. I noticed for flashing a kernel it said I had to fix permissions also? So I guess it seems less cut a dried, 3 options (with epic recovery) and before I start screwing around with my phone I wanted some clarification, for flashing roms, flashing modems, flashing mods...what needs to be wiped, or what constitutes a full wipe. I can't assume that a clean wipe means everything and if it doesn't well obviously that would be nice to not have to wipe internal card etc if i don't have to
thank you much

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