I've had a bit of a nightmare tonight, I rooted and cwm my nexus within the first hour of ownership and flashed modaco pauls rom however after a couple of days of messing around I found myself wondering how to format the internal storage but still be able to flash via cwm. Have poked around I've found you are able to push the rom via adb while in cmw so again no problem except selecting "wipe" from ics doesnt really format the partition the storage, while when the phone is running and plugged into the computer you seem to have a fresh storage area however the free space is still taking into account of old files. And when I went back to cwm it clearly still showed the old deleted files which seems strange. The only way i was able to clear everything was via the storage menu with ics deleting folders one at a time ?!
So my question is......
Which is the best way to format the internal storage area and once completed am i able to push my rom onto the phone and flash correctly?
Same problem here.
Even with wiping and formatting data, cache, system, dalvik cache and even a factory reset from the running Android, I still have old data from non-present apps in my app list.
Download the Super Wipe script from the Android Revolution HD thread, flash it in CWM and voila - completely formatted phone (bar the user data like pictures, music, etc)
Simplest way is to re-lock and re-unlock back the bootloader
Proyoyo said:
Simplest way is to re-lock and re-unlock back the bootloader
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Will this has any effect on rom / root?
GBIC said:
Same problem here.
Even with wiping and formatting data, cache, system, dalvik cache and even a factory reset from the running Android, I still have old data from non-present apps in my app list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Grab the Nexus Toolkit in the development section. It will do everything you are looking for plus more.
Hi,
Sorry for being a noob but i came from android phones with sdcards and this is the first time i had one without a sdcard card slot..
the main question is, if i wipe the device, will the content in the /sdcard folder that i transferred via MTP (photos, music, Nandroid backups, etc) be wipe out as well?
I am asking because I swear the i did a wipe yesterday and ALL the content in the phone is gone, including the things i put in the /sdcard folder...
just need to clarify or maybe i am crazy? Please help..
There is no SDcard. Its all one big partition. Doing a factory reset wipes the entire device. Yes your pictures and videos, too.
lordlad said:
Hi,
Sorry for being a noob but i came from android phones with sdcards and this is the first time i had one without a sdcard card slot..
the main question is, if i wipe the device, will the content in the /sdcard folder that i transferred via MTP (photos, music, Nandroid backups, etc) be wipe out as well?
I am asking because I swear the i did a wipe yesterday and ALL the content in the phone is gone, including the things i put in the /sdcard folder...
just need to clarify or maybe i am crazy? Please help..
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Click to collapse
Yes, the /sdcard folder actually points to /data/media. Doing a factory restore resets the /data partition, including the contents of /data/media. This means everything put in /sdcard will be erased.
That's stupid. Really stupid. I factory reset my phone all the time... Am I supposed to copy everything back over every time... Eh that would suck.
My transformer and G2x had internal memory and a factory reset from clockworkmod didn't touch the internal storage.
Nvbackups would copy everything though.
-sent from temp HTC Rezound waiting for Galaxy Nexus
player911 said:
That's stupid. Really stupid. I factory reset my phone all the time... Am I supposed to copy everything back over every time... Eh that would suck.
My transformer and G2x had internal memory and a factory reset from clockworkmod didn't touch the internal storage.
Nvbackups would copy everything though.
-sent from temp HTC Rezound waiting for Galaxy Nexus
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Instead of doing a factory reset, you could just delete everything in /data except for /data/media. That will achieve the same thing and leave your media data alone.
Wiping data and cache in CWM do NOT wipe my whole phone what are you guys talking about? The /sdcard is treated and mounted as if it were a physical SD card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
joshnichols189 said:
Wiping data and cache in CWM do NOT wipe my whole phone what are you guys talking about? The /sdcard is treated and mounted as if it were a physical SD card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Hmmmmmmmm.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
joshnichols189 said:
Wiping data and cache in CWM do NOT wipe my whole phone what are you guys talking about? The /sdcard is treated and mounted as if it were a physical SD card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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Yeah if you just wipe your data/cache via CWM it DOES NOT touch anything in your /sd card. However doing a factory reset via the settings menu while booted does!
RTContent said:
Yeah if you just wipe your data/cache via CWM it DOES NOT touch anything in your /sd card. However doing a factory reset via the settings menu while booted does!
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ok just to be clear, because people (me lol) get confused when people talk about the SD card when talking about the nexus. obviously there isnt one...so im assuming the partition that handles the media is what u refer to as the Sd card...virtual sd card. correct? and if i wipe data/cache via CWM it does NOT wipe my pictures, videos, etc...but if i factory reset under settings while booted...it WILL wipe EVERYTHING...i think i got it now if what i just said was correct...
v2.2v said:
ok just to be clear, because people (me lol) get confused when people talk about the SD card when talking about the nexus. obviously there isnt one...so im assuming the partition that handles the media is what u refer to as the Sd card...virtual sd card. correct? and if i wipe data/cache via CWM it does NOT wipe my pictures, videos, etc...but if i factory reset under settings while booted...it WILL wipe EVERYTHING...i think i got it now if what i just said was correct...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You got it
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
joshnichols189 said:
Wiping data and cache in CWM do NOT wipe my whole phone what are you guys talking about? The /sdcard is treated and mounted as if it were a physical SD card.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
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+1.. all these people are thinking the phone doesn't have a "sdcard." There is a "sdcard" but its more like internal storage. Think of it as a computer,
- Older phones like the G1 rely on the SDCard fully... so this is like running a OS off a USB drive without internal storage (G1 has a little internal storage.. not enough to say that there is one)
- Phones such as Galaxy S1/S2 have a sdcard AND internal storage. What does this mean? It's like a internal hard drive with the ability for external storage (flash drive, sd cards).
Example: Galaxy S2 has 16GB internal storage and expandable storage.
Phones like the Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, Galaxy Tab is like.... internal hard drives without the ability for expanded storage (unless you USB OTG a flash drive!). This is just a beyond misconception on the scene and this is what they meant by not having a sdcard.
When you do a factory reset, wipe cache, wipe dalvik... your /sdcard/ IS NOT TOUCHED unless you run a script that says otherwise!
/sdcard/ and all the other folders are treated as two separate partitions!
When you unlock your bootloader and it wipes, that deletes everything, including the sdcard folder.
yea i was about to say this is incorrect information, if you want to wipe everything i believe in the ARHD thread there is a wipe script to wipe everything, even data/media
azr3alazd3ycum said:
yea i was about to say this is incorrect information, if you want to wipe everything i believe in the ARHD thread there is a wipe script to wipe everything, even data/media
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Super wipe lite from the ARHD thread does not wipe the virtual SD card.
--- This script will erase and format your system and cache partition using EXT4 file-system ---
--- It will also wipe /data partition, but /data/media (virtual SD card) will be untouched ---
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All your personal files that would be stored in SD Card in other devices which has one, are stored under /data partition, at /data/media/.
The /sdcard/ is just a link to /data/media.
There seems to be special handling in CWM recovery image for Galaxy Nexus when formatting /data partition as it will not touch /data/media. It's nice feature indeed, but you cannot now empty your /data/media content without manual work. But normally you don't even want to do that so it's fine.
It would be much more simple to just forget about the "virtual sd card" or /sdcard, since those are just, well, virtual and makes unnecessary confusion.
So our files are now stored like they would be under C:\Users\media. If you format C-drive, you'll lose your 'personal' files as well from media folder. The "virtual sdcard" /sdcard would be just a similar as Windows has as "Favorite" feature, just a shortcut to a certain folder location.
joshnichols189 said:
Super wipe lite from the ARHD thread does not wipe the virtual SD card.
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I was referring to the full one. Its not out for the nexus yet. He has it for the transformer however.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
hey guys,
found this thread searching for an answer, i'll go ahead and ask it right here as it fits the the topic:
what i want to do when installing another rom is to wipe (system) data, cache and Dalvik cache (and i do not want my private files on the sd card to be touched). it is clear to me that CWM does not touch the sdcard partition. BUT: since all the apps are installed onto the sdcard partition they won't be deleted, right?
i want all my apps to be gone and to have a completely fresh new system installed without ANY leftovers from apps or apps/data or anything else that got stored on the sdcard partition while using the previous rom. of course these apps would not be installed anymore when you boot up the new rom, but all their files and folders would still remain on the sdcard partition, right? i'm talking about all those files that the rom generates itself and stores on the sdcard partition. of course i want to keep all my music, downloads, pictures, etc. but i want everything else to be gone.
to my understanding cwm does not touch the sdcard partition which leaves all the app folders and other android-created-files and folders (that were automatically created when using the previous rom) untouched and i would have to manually look for all these files and delete all these remnants which is kind of annoying.
do you know what i mean?
thx and greetz,
v.
vercetti said:
hey guys,
found this thread searching for an answer, i'll go ahead and ask it right here as it fits the the topic:
what i want to do when installing another rom is to wipe (system) data, cache and Dalvik cache (and i do not want my private files on the sd card to be touched). it is clear to me that CWM does not touch the sdcard partition. BUT: since all the apps are installed onto the sdcard partition they won't be deleted, right?
i want all my apps to be gone and to have a completely fresh new system installed without ANY leftovers from apps or apps/data or anything else that got stored on the sdcard partition while using the previous rom. of course these apps would not be installed anymore when you boot up the new rom, but all their files and folders would still remain on the sdcard partition, right? i'm talking about all those files that the rom generates itself and stores on the sdcard partition. of course i want to keep all my music, downloads, pictures, etc. but i want everything else to be gone.
to my understanding cwm does not touch the sdcard partition which leaves all the app folders and other android-created-files and folders (that were automatically created when using the previous rom) untouched and i would have to manually look for all these files and delete all these remnants which is kind of annoying.
do you know what i mean?
thx and greetz,
v.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you clear all your data/cache when installing a new rom it will also wipe apps that have been installed on your sdcard. This does not include removing folders that apps may store additional data on the sdcard. If you want to remove these folders unfortunately you will need to do it manually.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Installed apps do not go in /data/media, but /data/app and /data/data. I dont think /data/cache exists, /data/dalvik-cache does.
Those are only erased if you do a wipe data/factory reset in cwm/twrp, and for the latter wipe dalvik cache.
sent from my i9250
Will wiping the phone in CWM delete files on the "SD" space of the phone? I've read it is all apart of the same partition, so I wanted to make sure before awkwardly deleting the ROM I am about to install..
I have wiped tons of times in CWR and it hasn't touched the /sd yet. All my files are safe and sound.
Sent from my GNex
Grims said:
Will wiping the phone in CWM delete files on the "SD" space of the phone? I've read it is all apart of the same partition, so I wanted to make sure before awkwardly deleting the ROM I am about to install..
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Yes, it clears *all* internal storage.
So...which is it?
Maybe I misunderstood but are you talking about wiping /data and /cache? Because when I do this it does NOT wipe the /sd but does wipe all other user data, just like on every other android phone I have had.
Sent from my GNex
Grims said:
So...which is it?
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Wipe data/factory reset on CWM wipes your WHOLE phone, including "SD" card. I advise you to use the Super Wipe Lite script from the Android Revolution ROM, get it here. This will do a complete wipe, except SD card.
A bit of more info, in case you're interested: the SD card is the folder /data/media mounted as /sdcard. When you wipe in CWM, the data folder is emptied as well.
EDIT: i havent actually tried to do a normal full wipe from CWM, im stating the above just from reading other reports here. Maybe the last version from CWM has fixed this, i dont know
EDIT2: You can wipe cache and dalvik as usual from CWM without any problems.
flakz0r said:
Wipe data/factory reset on CWM wipes your WHOLE phone, including "SD" card. I advise you to use the Super Wipe Lite script from the Android Revolution ROM, get it here. This will do a complete wipe, except SD card.
A bit of more info, in case you're interested: the SD card is the folder /data/media mounted as /sdcard. When you wipe in CWM, the data folder is emptied as well.
EDIT: i havent actually tried to do a normal full wipe from CWM, im stating the above just from reading other reports here. Maybe the last version from CWM has fixed this, i dont know
EDIT2: You can wipe cache and dalvik as usual from CWM without any problems.
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Click to collapse
I figured that was how it was setup, but didn't know if CWM had any logic built into it to filter out the folder. I'll take a look at the script, thanks.
The built-in factory reset in Android will also wipe everything.
I did data,cache,dalvik wipe and formatted system going from 4.0.2 to 4.0.3.
I did NOT lose my SD card
The default wipe in ICS clears *all* internal memory. The default Factory Reset feature of CWM does the exact same thing. I've done it twice and it wiped fully both times.
Very interesting direct contradictions going on in here..
Wiping data in CWM DOES NOT WIPE THE VIRTUAL SDCARD. People need to stop saying it does.. it is all one partition but the virtual SD card is not wiped when you wipe data in cwm.. Factory resets in settings will wipe your virtual SD card but cwm WILL NOT.
Edit: sorry I had a long night, but I will leave the caps so people actually read it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
It is quite troubling to read how many people are saying that wiping in CWM will erase the SD card.
It 100% DOES NOT. I have wiped in CWM dozens of times already. I can not say the same for Factory Reset in Android...but in CWM wiping data DOES NOT wipe your SD.
I've had my nexus since December and have tried several ROMs since then--not a total noob, but there's a lot I don't know.
I've been wondering what part of the memory is left untouched by the factory wipes that I've been doing in preparation to flash a ROM? And is there any need to periodically wipe that portion of the memory to remove any remnants of ROMs or deleted apps or anything else that is potentially problem causing or just eating up memory space?
And would your answer explain this: I once did a factory wipe and then accidentally selected reboot before flashing the new ROM and the phone booted normally into the ROM I thought I had just wiped.
factory wipe (data/cache) in CWM only removes the apps, user data, and cache
it leaves /data/media alone (this is the /sdcard/ partition)
so if you hit reboot after a factory reset, it will still keep the same rom as /system is untouched unless you remove it or the rom installer script for the new rom deletes the partition.
When you wipe you clean the ROM for a new one to come. and as far as I know there's no storage to be cleaned up. When yo wipe cache and data it should be good to go.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
if you factory wipe using CWM, it will keep the data/media folder, which is all your sdcard contents. other than that the rest of the data folder (apps/settings) will get wiped.
if you wipe userdata using fastboot, either by typing in 'fastboot erase userdata' or when using the -w command when installing factory images then your sdcard will get formatted too.
Anytime you want to change Rom's just move the important files/pics/etc to a subfolder of /data/media or just copy them to your PC first. I think its good to factory reset every once in a while to clear out the remnants of uninstalled programs. Seems to speed up the phone too in my opinion.
Mounts & Storage → Format System "Not SD"
It will help with issues people mostly run into.
bOx Stash - https://www.box.com/shared/d8a46b7252c38069deb1
Can someone tell me the difference between "factory reset" and "format data" on the recovery options (CWM or Team Win)? I've googled but I can't find anything. Some ROMs call for one or the other.
I was also wondering if "format data" is safe if I have everything backup up with TiBu on my external SD card. Will it wipe everything on my internal storage?
Thanks!
Last weekend I did a factory reset in stock recovery and lost all my custom ring tones and notification sounds. I discovered that neither TWRP nor CWM backed up /data/media when I made a backup. I subsequently noticed a message from TWRP during a factory reset that it was leaving /data/media.
So that's at least one difference: format will remove /data/media while factory reset will not.
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