Develop Bugs

Where to put files so a wipe won't delete them?

I've already rooted and unlocked my bootloader and I'm just about to load a custom ROM, however where do I put the files so when I wipe/factory reset they don't get deleted? Thanks.

Your files don't get deleted. Only data and apps on android partition
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Brett3rThanU said:
I've already rooted and unlocked my bootloader and I'm just about to load a custom ROM, however where do I put the files so when I wipe/factory reset they don't get deleted? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Anywhere outside /system. i.e. place them on the part of your sd card where your pics, music, etc... live.

Really? That doesn't seem right for some reason...I just unlocked & rooted my girlfriends new Verizon Nexus but didn't put a ROM on it right then (which I should have done ), and during that process all of her photos and apps were deleted. I luckily had backed up photos, sms backups, etc. off of the device so I was able to transfer those back, but it was bone stock (like nothing on it at all) after that process. Is that "wipe" different than the "wipe data/factory reset" we have to do before going onto most of the ROMs for the Nexus?
Sorry about my ignorance...I'm an Epic 4g Touch owner so I'm well versed in it, but just starting to learn about the Verizon Nexus. Thanks a lot guys.

Unlocking the bootloader wipes it all; but a wipe data/factory reset from CWM doesn't touch your virtual sd card, i.e. photos, etc... remain. The OP is already unlocked, so he's "safe".

I will answer your specific question, "Where to put files so a wipe won't delete them?" If you want to be safe, on your computer or on anything external other than the phone. I only say this because the phone does not have an external sd card. Ill repeat what I said in another thread...we don't backup for the disasters we foresee but for the ones we don't.

Only the factory recovery wipes the /data/media ("/sdcard") partition. Any third-party community-built recovery (like ClockworkMod Recovery or TeamWin Recovery Project) will wipe everything except /data/media.
So, to answer your question, as long as the files are on your phone's pretend SD card (the default for user-created content and files you transfer to your phone), they won't be wiped when installing a custom ROM.

CMNein said:
Unlocking the bootloader wipes it all; but a wipe data/factory reset from CWM doesn't touch your virtual sd card, i.e. photos, etc... remain. The OP is already unlocked, so he's "safe".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
codesplice said:
Only the factory recovery wipes the /data/media ("/sdcard") partition. Any third-party community-built recovery (like ClockworkMod Recovery or TeamWin Recovery Project) will wipe everything except /data/media.
So, to answer your question, as long as the files are on your phone's pretend SD card (the default for user-created content and files you transfer to your phone), they won't be wiped when installing a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome - thank you both for your responses. That's actually a pretty cool little feature. I wish my phone could have apps retained after doing a "data/factory reset" wipe, which is such a good idea when going between ROMS.
I am stating that correctly, right? Apps, app data/caches, pretty much everything but system apps will be retained after a 3rd party data wipe? I just want to be sure, especially since it's not my device I'd be messing with Thanks

DutchDogg54 said:
I am stating that correctly, right? Apps, app data/caches, pretty much everything but system apps will be retained after a 3rd party data wipe? I just want to be sure, especially since it's not my device I'd be messing with Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, I'm afraid not. Applications will be wiped, as they reside on /data/app. The only item not wiped is the /data/media partition. Plug your phone up to your computer - the files and folders that you see listed will remain after a full wipe. Everything else will be gone.
Though, to be technical, a "factory reset" wipe primarily wipes /data (except for /data/media) and /cache. You'll generally have to manually wipe (through recovery) /system.

codesplice said:
No, I'm afraid not. Applications will be wiped, as they reside on /data/app. The only item not wiped is the /data/media partition. Plug your phone up to your computer - the files and folders that you see listed will remain after a full wipe. Everything else will be gone.
Though, to be technical, a "factory reset" wipe primarily wipes /data (except for /data/media) and /cache. You'll generally have to manually wipe (through recovery) /system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's what I was thinking...thought it was a little too good to be true. No biggie...that's what Titanium backup is for
So, just to play devils advocate...if I were to copy, for instance, the go sms backup file that's created when you backup files to the /data/media partition, theoretically that would be retained, correct? That's about the only thing that would be lost doing a 3rd party wipe that couldn't be TB restored...and when I talk about the go sms back up I would like to throw things like her circle launcher setup backup files, etc. in that ring...what do you think about that?

DutchDogg54 said:
Yeah, that's what I was thinking...thought it was a little too good to be true. No biggie...that's what Titanium backup is for
So, just to play devils advocate...if I were to copy, for instance, the go sms backup file that's created when you backup files to the /data/media partition, theoretically that would be retained, correct? That's about the only thing that would be lost doing a 3rd party wipe that couldn't be TB restored...and when I talk about the go sms back up I would like to throw things like her circle launcher setup backup files, etc. in that ring...what do you think about that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A lot of apps (I can't speak specifically for those, unfortunately) actually keep their user-created backup files in a directory on /data/media, so those would be safe. I know that Nova Launcher, Titanium Backup, Tasker, and some others do that.

The SD card does not get wiped between rom flashes using Cwm. Only the first boot loader unlock does everything get wiped.
So all my files and pics on my SD card stay in tact when I wipe in Cwm or flash a new rom.

Hi all,
I have a similar question.. I'm wanting to know where I can safely put the ROM zip because I want to wipe the sdcard0 partitiion
If I put it in /data/media I should be able to select it from there in CWM recovery right?

lamenting said:
Hi all,
I have a similar question.. I'm wanting to know where I can safely put the ROM zip because I want to wipe the sdcard0 partitiion
If I put it in /data/media I should be able to select it from there in CWM recovery right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
after wiping sdcard partition, just use adb to push files to sdcard.

kyokeun1234 said:
after wiping sdcard partition, just use adb to push files to sdcard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I rebooted into recovery, formatted the sdcard.
Now when I try to push the file in adb, it's not showing up.
Tried pushing to both /storage/sdcard0 and /sdcard but they're not showing up when i ls into them from shell. In fact I can't acces /sdcard at all, but /storage/sdcard0 is empty.
I can't mount /sdcard in CWM either.
Help!

lamenting said:
So I rebooted into recovery, formatted the sdcard.
Now when I try to push the file in adb, it's not showing up.
Tried pushing to both /storage/sdcard0 and /sdcard but they're not showing up when i ls into them from shell. In fact I can't acces /sdcard at all, but /storage/sdcard0 is empty.
I can't mount /sdcard in CWM either.
Help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try /data/media, as that is where the "sdcard" data actually resides. The other locations are just links that point here
You may need to use the recovery option to mount /data.

codesplice said:
Try /data/media, as that is where the "sdcard" data actually resides. The other locations are just links that point here
You may need to use the recovery option to mount /data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
I ended up flashing back to stock and then flashed a new ROM and it seems to be working OK.
In the future, though, what should I have done different to avoid not being able to access /sdcard?

lamenting said:
Thanks!
I ended up flashing back to stock and then flashed a new ROM and it seems to be working OK.
In the future, though, what should I have done different to avoid not being able to access /sdcard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd just try accessing it via /data/media instead. The other links may not be created before the system actually boots.

NOOB Q About Memory

Hi All,
Hopefully this should be a very quick question. I'm loading CM onto my phone, and this is the first ROM I've ever used. I've loaded CWM, made a backup, and I'm about ready to go and load CW on. I've noticed though that out of the 5 or so gig the phone comes with for internal memory, about 4gb is used up. Is this just the system and the back up and apps?? It seems quite a lot. Will CM fill this up further? Will I encounter any issues?
I hope thats all clear, but excuse me for being a beginner.
EDIT: This is now even more relevant now CM is flashed. I've just looked in the file viewer, and there's still all the folders etc from the old samsung, and amazonmp3 etc etc. I thought the "wipe data/factory reset" in CWM would have cleared all this.....
Many thanks for looking.

floateruk said:
Hi All,
Hopefully this should be a very quick question. I'm loading CM onto my phone, and this is the first ROM I've ever used. I've loaded CWM, made a backup, and I'm about ready to go and load CW on. I've noticed though that out of the 5 or so gig the phone comes with for internal memory, about 4gb is used up. Is this just the system and the back up and apps?? It seems quite a lot. Will CM fill this up further? Will I encounter any issues?
I hope thats all clear, but excuse me for being a beginner.
EDIT: This is now even more relevant now CM is flashed. I've just looked in the file viewer, and there's still all the folders etc from the old samsung, and amazonmp3 etc etc. I thought the "wipe data/factory reset" in CWM would have cleared all this.....
Many thanks for looking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset only wipes the data partition. For the first time installing a custom ROM, and especially going from stock to cm for the first time, you should wipe the system partition which can be done from cwm.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.
Want to know how to boost your devices performance and battery life? See my thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2495269

iKlutz said:
Factory reset only wipes the data partition. For the first time installing a custom ROM, and especially going from stock to cm for the first time, you should wipe the system partition which can be done from cwm.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.
Want to know how to boost your devices performance and battery life? See my thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2495269
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi again.
So I finally got round to trying to get this sorted.... and I'm failing. I've booted into CWM, rerun the "wipe/data factory reset", rerun the "wipe cache" then went into "mounts and storage" and did a format of the system partition, but it still hasn't cleared any of the data.
Am I doing something incorrectly? I didn't want to play around with it too much, in case i bork it all. Any help would be massively appreciated.
Also, I'm a bit concerned about what formatting the system partition will do. Does it just clear the rom already on there, and I can then flash Cyanogenmod back on from my sd card?
Thanks

floateruk said:
Hi again.
So I finally got round to trying to get this sorted.... and I'm failing. I've booted into CWM, rerun the "wipe/data factory reset", rerun the "wipe cache" then went into "mounts and storage" and did a format of the system partition, but it still hasn't cleared any of the data.
Am I doing something incorrectly? I didn't want to play around with it too much, in case i bork it all. Any help would be massively appreciated.
Also, I'm a bit concerned about what formatting the system partition will do. Does it just clear the rom already on there, and I can then flash Cyanogenmod back on from my sd card?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Formatting system partition wipes the currently installed rom / system apps.
How do you know that it is not wiping the data? If you do a system format and your rom still boots then it isn't working properly.
It could be a problem with the version of recovery (cwm / twrp) that you're using. It can't hurt to update it, which could be the case here.
Good luck. Let me know how it goes.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.

iKlutz said:
Formatting system partition wipes the currently installed rom / system apps.
How do you know that it is not wiping the data? If you do a system format and your rom still boots then it isn't working properly.
It could be a problem with the version of recovery (cwm / twrp) that you're using. It can't hurt to update it, which could be the case here.
Good luck. Let me know how it goes.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for coming back so quickly!
So if you see the attached, this is what I'm looking at. The phone has 5.5gb internal memory, of which, looking at the below, I'm using about 1.5gb, BUT I only have 1gb left to use, and I get warnings about lack of memory.... So there's 3gb being used for.... I don't know.
When I first put cyanogen on, I noticed that the file structure from stock was still there (i.e. all the folder my old apps made). I expected when I put CM on that it would wipe everything, including all of those folders.

You can try an app called es file explorer, it has a feature that fully scans the contents of the internal SD card.
It should show a list of all the folders from the old stock data folders. You can multi select and delete what you want.
Another option which is more efficient, is to make a full backup of all the internal data in your PC. Then fully format the internal SD card via cwm and transfer which contents you need back from the PC such as photos and music. Asides from photos, music and other media items, most of those internal SD contents aren't needed as Android uses these folders for app data etc.
Always make back ups.
Your welcome.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.

iKlutz said:
You can try an app called es file explorer, it has a feature that fully scans the contents of the internal SD card.
It should show a list of all the folders from the old stock data folders. You can multi select and delete what you want.
Another option which is more efficient, is to make a full backup of all the internal data in your PC. Then fully format the internal SD card via cwm and transfer which contents you need back from the PC such as photos and music. Asides from photos, music and other media items, most of those internal SD contents aren't needed as Android uses these folders for app data etc.
Always make back ups.
Your welcome.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I have got ES File explorer. I couldn't find a "scan" but I've gone through all the folder on my device and I can see the following:
/storage - 3.83gb
/mnt - 2.11gb
/sdcard - 893mb
A lot of this seems to be duplicated though.... The stuff on mnt seems to be a shortcut to whats in sdcard, and all that in storage seems to be in the other two. I don't technically think it's all duplicated, but different ways to get to the same stuff, which makes me very nervous about deleting any of it....

Just got a liitle program to give a break down. See attached.
Surely my system data shouldn't be that big?

I recommend you make a full back up in your PC and format the SD card and transfer the contents of your current SD folder back. I've done it before on different devices, I do it on first root / cm install coming from stock because of all the old obsolete data. Apps like clean master won't removing it because it's marked as important for stock users. It shouldn't be a problem.
Note:
Having different links to the data partition is normal. It's purpose is compatibility.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.
---------- Post added at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 AM ----------
It's possible that's reserved for the system. Mine is similar. You can still use it if you convert user apps into system ones.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.

iKlutz said:
I recommend you make a full back up in your PC and format the SD card and transfer the contents of your current SD folder back. I've done it before on different devices, I do it on first root / cm install coming from stock because of all the old obsolete data. Apps like clean master won't removing it because it's marked as important for stock users. It shouldn't be a problem.
Note:
Having different links to the data partition is normal. It's purpose is compatibility.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.
---------- Post added at 12:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:54 AM ----------
It's possible that's reserved for the system. Mine is similar. You can still use it if you convert user apps into system ones.
Sent from the dark side of the moon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just found this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2083107
It's something to do with backups. I'm gonna read through that thread and see if I can find out what I can/can't delete without bricking the phone.
Massively appreciate your time and repsonses on this iKlutz. Just out of interest, did you do a backup when you installed a rom? Have you found that the backup is this big??

Use ES file explorer or other file manager with root explorer capabilities.
Go to /data/media
You should see:
0
clockworkmod
legacy
obb
In clockworkmod folder I've found a backup (2.0GB) that was made by mistake to internal sotrage, since I allways do backup in CWM Recovery to external SD.
Deleted and 2.0GB were gained.

luisbraz said:
Use ES file explorer or other file manager with root explorer capabilities.
Go to /data/media
You should see:
0
clockworkmod
legacy
obb
In clockworkmod folder I've found a backup (2.0GB) that was made by mistake to internal sotrage, since I allways do backup in CWM Recovery to external SD.
Deleted and 2.0GB were gained.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. Data/Media is empty.... I might delete the back up from CWM. If the worst happens, I can always flash from the external SD card can't i? Do I "need" that back up of the device when it was stock?

floateruk said:
Hmmm. Data/Media is empty.... I might delete the back up from CWM. If the worst happens, I can always flash from the external SD card can't i? Do I "need" that back up of the device when it was stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do not delete.
Copy the folder(s) that you have in the "backup" to the external SD card to the "backup" folder in the "clockworkmod" folder.
Then, you can delete the backup folder located in "data/media/clockworkmod/".
I allways save the backup of the stock ROM's.
To restore in CWM recovery, simply choose "restore from external SD card". And to backup, choose "backup to external SD card", or it will backup to the internal memory.

floateruk said:
Hmmm. Data/Media is empty.... I might delete the back up from CWM. If the worst happens, I can always flash from the external SD card can't i? Do I "need" that back up of the device when it was stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you solve the issue?

luisbraz said:
Did you solve the issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.... I don't really know what to do with it.
I've got an s3 mini with Cyanogen and CWM and the system data portion is only 54mb.
I might go into CWM and start deleting things. If I delete the backup I made of my stock phone when I first rooted and added CWM, I can't see too many issues.... I can always flash a stock ROM again can't I?

floateruk said:
No.... I don't really know what to do with it.
I've got an s3 mini with Cyanogen and CWM and the system data portion is only 54mb.
I might go into CWM and start deleting things. If I delete the backup I made of my stock phone when I first rooted and added CWM, I can't see too many issues.... I can always flash a stock ROM again can't I?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, using Odin you can flash stock ROM again.
Next time do the backups in CWM to the external SD card!

[q] CWM - Factory Reset .. still leaves stuff behind?

So after tinkering around with the AFTV (mounting external usb as internal, etc) , i decided to start fresh. I did a factory reset, but noticed that there's stuff that's still around. for example, I noticed there's an /emulated/legacy folder with some old stuff like my XBMC folders even though after the factory reset I installed SPMC. Also when I installed the ikonoTV app again, it already had the XBMC icon switched in still. Is it correct that the factory reset just wipes a certain portion and leaves others (the "SDcard" portion of the AFTV)? If so, how do i fully go fresh start with everything wiped?
Thanks

Boot into clockwork recovery, wipe /data and /system and reflash the pre rooted software version you want. It will even make you watch the welcome video again. Make sure you have updates blocked on router because com.Amazon.dcp will not be disabled until you disable it again.

Thanks! I guess I need to wipe /system as well then.
Router is blocking the updates so should be good.

barrist said:
Thanks! I guess I need to wipe /system as well then.
Router is blocking the updates so should be good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset will not FORMAT /data, but just delete everything but /data/media, which is /sdcard. There is a separate option for wiping /data & /data/media. If you wipe /system you must be extra careful you NEVER attempt to reboot before reflashing something onto it.

Do you think it's useful to wipe the system or should wiping data media be enough for a fresh start ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

barrist said:
Do you think it's useful to wipe the system or should wiping data media be enough for a fresh start ?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you didn't change /system, there is no point in touching it. But like I said, if you do, make absolute sure to reflash something.

I got a bit of a problem here.
I extracted two .obb folders with FolderMount to my usb drive and then set my aftv (running your pre-rooted 51.1.4.0_514006420) back to factory settings + did wipe cache, data and dalvik in recovery.
all runs fine except I can not enter the usb drive.
stickmount shows it is mounting "sdcard/usbStorage/sda1" but I can not access it, neither in ESFile explorer nor FolderMount.
sdcard/usbStorage/sda1 is showing the two empty .obb folders and I can not change them.
I just reinstalled 51.1.4.0_514006420 from recovery but saw there is a lot of junk left + the same problem with the usb drive.
how can I safely wipe to a totally clean 51.1.4.0_514006420 ?
best

rbox said:
As long as you didn't change /system, there is no point in touching it. But like I said, if you do, make absolute sure to reflash something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, sorry to jump on this discussion but I think I may well of done this exact process and rebooted before reflashing.
My fire tv will now only boot to the White Amazon logo and won't revert to factory restore at all using the alt-print screen-I method. All I can manage is constant reboots.
Any ideas?
Does this mean I have in fact bricked my fire to and there's no way back for me?
Paul

wipse system in TWRP

I accidentally wiped the system in TRWP and the phone won't boot, it just shows white screen with HTC logo and the red text down.
Did I just wiped my android from the phone?
I can get into bootloader and recovery. But I dont have rom in my internal storage. (because I deleted everything) How can I put rom.zip into my storage again and do the flash?
PLEASE HELP!

delete please have found an answer

JernejB2 said:
delete please have found an answer
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Threads typically aren't deleted on XDA. If you found a solution, post it for the benefit of others that may have the same/similar issue.
In the future, you shouldn't be wiping anything, if you have no idea what it is, or what the outcome will be. It says right on the TWRP Wipe section, that the default wipe is the only one you need most of the time. And it says that for a reason. And the remaining options are also called "Advanced" for good reason.
Yes, "system" is the Android Operating System. By wiping it, you wiped the whole OS.
Recovering from this is typically done by putting a ROM on removable SD, or alternately using adb push to put a ROM on the phone. Then boot into TWRP and install the ROM.
You should also typically have TWRP backup of your current ROM, for easy recovery. Basic good practice to always have a TWRP "nandroid" backup whenever messing with the phone (root, ROMs, other mods). And there is usually not a good reason to wipe "everything" (all at the same time) and therefore also wipe your backups wherever they may be (internal storage or SD card).

[SOLVED] How to completely wipe literally EVERYTHING

I looked through many threads, posts, websites, and tutorials, but none of them say how to literally wipe my device completely (it could be that it's not possible), what I want to do is completely remove literally everything so that it's like a brand new hard drive without even any files in it.
'Factory Reset' doesn't remove everything because android still boots after a factory reset and android wouldn't be able to boot if there were no files on the device. TWRP doesn't remove everything either because how is twrp running, and I can still see the androids root directories in twrps file manager (TWRP does tell me that there's no OS installed, but then why is there still a functioning file system with actual files in them).
I want to completely wipe everything so that any future roms I download will have no way to be affected by any old kernels/roms/apps that I have installed in the past. I want to clean install android on top of a literally empty phone hard drive. If this isn't possible then what's the closest to that that I can get? Cuz I tried various roms and I had bugs that persisted between multiple roms even though other people said that they didn't have these issues.
In case you're wondering: I'm currently running LineageOS 15.1, oreo 8.1

Your best bet it to wipe using stock image. Reinstall TWRP and wipe system, cache and data before installing new ROM

I agree with the advice given by Vanschtezla.
Also, if you would completely wipe all data on the phone's storage then that would also wipe the partition table. The storage area is divided into partitions which are mounted to for example /system /data and /cache when your phone boots.
Also there is no real need to "wipe everything" as you say as that could brick your phone. If you just boot TWRP and wipe using "Factory reset" and additionally: System then everything should be clean enough to install a new ROM. Depending on the ROM it will wipe the System partition anyway.
Kernels reside in the system partition so when you wipe System, any Kernel is gone
Pre installed (system) Apps sit in the System partition so wipe System and they are gone
User Apps sit in the data partition so wipe data (that is included in the Factory reset) and they're gone
All in all I think you're expecting issues that simply do not exist. Especially if you just follow the instructions of the (custom) ROM you want to install.

THANK YOU!
peterpv said:
I agree with the advice given by Vanschtezla.
Kernels reside in the system partition so when you wipe System, any Kernel is gone
Pre installed (system) Apps sit in the System partition so wipe System and they are gone
User Apps sit in the data partition so wipe data (that is included in the Factory reset) and they're gone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I was looking for! Why don't any "How to wipe your phone" guides say these things (even the ones that get more technical don't mention what exactly gets deleted for each wipe option, which is why from your perspective it was probably very weird to read my question).