whats the correct command to format my internal storage in fastboot? I ask a I'm paranoid that I'll wipe the wrong partition and brick.
My internal storage (possibly more partitions????) is borked from trying a nandroid when I didn't have enough space (2gb not enough lol). Now everything is running f-cked and laggy. Tried full wipe and everything.
I tried erase storage from settings but now I cant even get back into recovery, it reboots instantly!!!
Have had my Galaxy Nexus for 2 years now. It was also my first android device so I've tried every app out there haha. This year I did my first root and tested a few roms. I think I have found one I like but before starting fresh I would like to completely restart my internal memory and SD card. Every flash I have done I have just done the factory reset which clears my SD card only I believe. I use TWRP and see that they have a few options to erase internal memory along with other things. Is it safe to do the advanced wipe? If I checked off all of the items and did the advanced erase, would I have to install the factory image in SDK again before being able to install a rom? How else would I install a rom if there is no data on the phone? All I am looking for is to completely clean up my phone before continuing on with it. Hopefully my post makes sense. Thanks for any future replies.
Best way to do that is to follow this guide and return to stock then start over. I'm pretty sure it wipes everything in the process.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1626895
Yes I've done the return to stock from your link. Although some items are still in my internal memory left behind from apps. The options I speak of are as follows in TWRP.
Dalvik Cache
System
Cache
Data
Internal Storage
USB OTG
Question is can I just select all of these and wipe the phone and reinstall factory image in fastboot. or a rom in fastboot?
sumthin2die4 said:
Yes I've done the return to stock from your link. Although some items are still in my internal memory left behind from apps. The options I speak of are as follows in TWRP.
Dalvik Cache
System
Cache
Data
Internal Storage
USB OTG
Question is can I just select all of these and wipe the phone and reinstall factory image in fastboot. or a rom in fastboot?
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Click to collapse
re-lock then unlock the bootloader will wipe your data and internal sdcard.
flashing userdata.img with fastboot will do the same
Ok, this might sound like a noob question but before deleting any files on the internal storage I want to make sure to not delete the wrong ones
I flash roms almost on a weekly basis, try tons of apps which all leave files on my internal storage so now when I look at it I see lots of garbage that I'm pretty sure I can delete - so here is my question:
When flashing a new rom I wipe data and cache and after that can I safely delete every folder on the internal storage? I guess that the only ones that I should keep are:
- clockworkmod
- data
- DCIM
- android
Or is there a way to wipe the phone without losing root? (I just don't want to go through the hassle of rooting again..)
Thanks
Seek and you shall find. :good:
Simply go into Mounts and Storage in the Recovery menu and select "format /data and /data/media (/sdcard)" - that does the trick. It deletes everything on the internal memory but leaves the external SD card untouched --> success!
Use with caution though: before this always do a nandroid backup to the external SD and above all don't do all of this if you are not sure about what you are doing
i usually
i) wipe data/factory reset
ii) wipe dalvik cache
iii) format /system
And always after this there are so many unused and uneccesary directories & files left in my internal sd card.
So you propose that after also runningformat /data and /data/media (/sdcard) everything in internal sdcard is deleted?
the thing is that most probably i have the ROM file and gapps etc in internal sdcard in order to flash the phone.if i run this and if i understood correctly that it deletes everything, then it will also delete those ROM files right?
so please clarify this if you can or propose the best way i guess other aditional steps (that im missing out) in order to have the cleanest possible phone.
I'm going to install a new ROM for the first time, planning to install Wicked.
For installing a ROM, I understand you are free to do it from the internal or external storage - you just need to find the file from the recovery's file manager. No problem.
HOWEVER, instructions for this (and many ROMs I've read about) tell you to do a "full wipe" (data, cache and dalvik).
Does this mean I can't (shouldn't) install from internal storage? Or, what are the consequences of not wiping the data partition? Can it be wiped after somehow loading the ROM file?
j111 said:
I'm going to install a new ROM for the first time, planning to install Wicked.
For installing a ROM, I understand you are free to do it from the internal or external storage - you just need to find the file from the recovery's file manager. No problem.
HOWEVER, instructions for this (and many ROMs I've read about) tell you to do a "full wipe" (data, cache and dalvik).
Does this mean I can't (shouldn't) install from internal storage? Or, what are the consequences of not wiping the data partition? Can it be wiped after somehow loading the ROM file?
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Click to collapse
A "full" wipe isn't exactly a full wipe. You wipe system, data, and cache. While it's true that your internal SD card is on the /data partition, it is untouched by the wipe data function. As far as consequences to not wiping data... all sorts of problems can crop up if you don't wipe it; especially if you're moving between different ROMs (i.e. going from stock TouchWiz to an AOSP variant) or different versions of Android like 4.2.2 to 4.3, etc. If you're going from, say Wicked V9 to Wicked V10, it shouldn't be a problem to leave data intact because it's still Android 4.3. Wicked V8 to Wicked V9 would likely require a data wipe because it's going from 4.2.2 to 4.3.
lordcheeto03 said:
A "full" wipe isn't exactly a full wipe...While it's true that your internal SD card is on the /data partition, it is untouched by the wipe data function
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Click to collapse
Thanks. So the internal sdcard is not wiped by the data wipe? Is it possible to ask for the details of what the data wipe does in exact terms? Sounds like it doesn't do any formatting, so it must do a delete (rm -rf) of certain directories? Any idea which ones and which ones it leaves alone?
j111 said:
Thanks. So the internal sdcard is not wiped by the data wipe? Is it possible to ask for the details of what the data wipe does in exact terms? Sounds like it doesn't do any formatting, so it must do a delete (rm -rf) of certain directories? Any idea which ones and which ones it leaves alone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It wipes the userdata partition, and others, there's like 30 different partitions. This partition is where your apps and app data is stored. It does not wipe the sdcard partition which is your internal sdcard.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727
I see. So what data is stored on the internal sdcard partition? Is this the file system that you see by default when you connect to a computer via USB (MTC)? Where pics are stored and whatnot...
j111;50555364Is this the file system that you see by default when you connect to a computer via USB (MTC)? Where pics are stored and whatnot...[/QUOTE said:
Yes.
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Click to collapse
Hello all,
Sorry for this semi-noob question. I have had many android phones and rooted all of them but this is my first Nexus device. I've unlocked my bootloader and have TWRP installed and I'm ready to install a ROM. Unfortunately I am unsure of how I can do a full wipe without wiping my internal storage too.
On every other phone I have had, I would go to advanced wipe and then wipe system, data, cache and dalvik cache but I just did that and it wiped my internal storage :/
I had to flash the stock system image through ADB because ADB sideload wasn't working. Now I'm afraid to wipe system again before trying again because I feel like it will wipe my internal storage again. How can I wipe system properly before installing a new ROM?
Thanks!
Now the interesting question here is: What is internal storage?
You seem to think it is the entire emmc, including your system, cache and data partitions but that is not how that term is used.
As far as I have been able to figure this out "Internal Storage" in Android refers to the entire /data partition which in itself again is divided into a user accessible part where your photos, videos, files are stored ( /data/media and mounted as /sdcard/0 ) and the rest of the /data partition which is used for apps you install and their data. That part is not accessible to the user unless you have root.
Now, for 99% of all wipe operations all you need to do when installing a new rom is to wipe the data partition of all user installed apps and their data, dalvik and cache - also called a 'clean install'.
Any rom installer worth a damn will format /system before installing a new rom, so wiping /system is redundant.
TWRP made this very easy: Enter the Wipe menu and swipe the button. Default is to wipe /data (without wiping /data/media), cache and Dalvik. Flash the rom - done.
berndblb said:
Now the interesting question here is: What is internal storage?
You seem to think it is the entire emmc, including your system, cache and data partitions but that is not how that term is used.
As far as I have been able to figure this out "Internal Storage" in Android refers to the entire /data partition which in itself again is divided into a user accessible part where your photos, videos, files are stored ( /data/media and mounted as /sdcard/0 ) and the rest of the /data partition which is used for apps you install and their data. That part is not accessible to the user unless you have root.
Now, for 99% of all wipe operations all you need to do when installing a new rom is to wipe the data partition of all user installed apps and their data, dalvik and cache - also called a 'clean install'.
Any rom installer worth a damn will format /system before installing a new rom, so wiping /system is redundant.
TWRP made this very easy: Enter the Wipe menu and swipe the button. Default is to wipe /data (without wiping /data/media), cache and Dalvik. Flash the rom - done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Internal Storage" as I used the term refers to just the user accessible part of the data partition where (as you said) photos, files, etc are stored. On previous versions of TWRP for phones I have had, you could wipe system, date, cache, etc and it would always leave internal storage intact. Ergo, after wiping, you could navigate to your downloads folder and find the ROM you wanted to flash. The issue I had was that I wiped "system" using TWRP and it wiped my "internal storage", meaning my downloads and photos and everything - leaving me with no ROM to flash.
You answered my question perfectly toward the end with this
Any rom installer worth a damn will format /system before installing a new rom, so wiping /system is redundant.
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Click to collapse
I come from a series of phones where this was not standard behavior for ROM installers, so failing to wipe system would lead to a dirty flash and almost assuredly cause issues. Thanks for the input, I will just do a data wipe from now on.
You shouldn't count on roms wiping system automatically.
A well established rom like pure Nexus for instance does not wipe system at flashing, leaving it up to the user to clean or dirty flash.
Always read and follow the installation instructions that come with the rom and you should have little problems. If there aren't any instructions, stay away from the rom is my advice, especially of you are a new user.
As to your question: go to the wipe menu in twrp. Then do an advanced wipe. Check every box except internal storage and wipe. Then proceed to flash your rom.
peltus said:
You shouldn't count on roms wiping system automatically.
A well established rom like pure Nexus for instance does not wipe system at flashing, leaving it up to the user to clean or dirty flash.
Always read and follow the installation instructions that come with the rom and you should have little problems. If there aren't any instructions, stay away from the rom is my advice, especially of you are a new user.
As to your question: go to the wipe menu in twrp. Then do an advanced wipe. Check every box except internal storage and wipe. Then proceed to flash your rom.
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Click to collapse
Thanks, I'm not a new user by any stretch, just new to the Nexus 5x.
As to your question: go to the wipe menu in twrp. Then do an advanced wipe. Check every box except internal storage and wipe. Then proceed to flash your rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I did when it wiped the ROM file (and all photos/sms backups) from my internal storage. That's how I have always wiped before flashing a new ROM in TWRP and this is the first time it ever wiped my internal storage, hence my question. I think I'll just stick to ROM installers that perform a system wipe. I plan on running the odex stock based ROM I just installed for a while anyway.
The_mamba said:
Thanks, I'm not a new user by any stretch, just new to the Nexus 5x.
This is exactly what I did when it wiped the ROM file (and all photos/sms backups) from my internal storage. That's how I have always wiped before flashing a new ROM in TWRP and this is the first time it ever wiped my internal storage, hence my question. I think I'll just stick to ROM installers that perform a system wipe. I plan on running the odex stock based ROM I just installed for a while anyway.
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Click to collapse
Sorry for assuming you're a newby. Last time i wiped that way in twrp (June 2016) it left my SD card alone. Maybe you checked the wrong box?
peltus said:
Sorry for assuming you're a newby. Last time i wiped that way in twrp (June 2016) it left my SD card alone. Maybe you checked the wrong box?
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Click to collapse
No worries, I appreciate the help either way. I suppose it's possible I checked the wrong box but I am very diligent about that because I have REALLY screwed myself over with that in the past. I accidentally wiped internal storage once or twice on my HTC One and had to RUU back to stock, losing everything including root. Luckily recovery is quicker and easier on the 5x (and the phone is brand new so it had no pictures on it).
I'm afraid to try it again even with a nandroid since the recovery files or stored on internal storage so wiping that would leave me SOL too. Like I said, I'll probably just ride on this ROM until the Nougat or so and then make a full cloud backup before trying a full wipe again.
Wiping system did not erase your files. /system is read only, so you nor your apps can store anything there.
I respectfully disagree with @peltus. In those parts of XDA where I "grew up" a dirty flash is a rom flash without wiping data. And I would be grateful for a link to a rom where the installation script does not involve formatting or wiping /system.
I could be wrong but I believe TWRP's wipe of data is without data/media.
Internal Storage wipes the entire data partition.
One if these days with more time I'll give it a try
Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk
BONUS: What is a data/media device?
https://twrp.me/faq/datamedia.html
The relevant part:
Since /data/media is part of /data, we pretty much never actually format the data partition. Formatting data, of course, also removes the media folder that contains the internal sdcard. When you choose a factory reset [or wipe data], instead of formatting, we use rm -rf commands to remove all the folders except for the media folder so that we can remove all of your apps and settings while leaving your "sdcard" intact. In TWRP we also have a wipe internal storage option that rm -rf's the media folder and a "Format Data" option that formats to recreate the entire file system in case something goes completely wrong or to remove device encryption.
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Click to collapse
[ ] - added by me.