Question Wipe data but not internal storage? - Google Pixel 6 Pro

Hi all. Is it possible to wipe everything but the internal storage before flashing a different ROM? I have a load of stuff on my storage and don't want to have to copy it all off and then back on again afterwards when want to change to a different ROM. Used to do this all the time on my other phones
Thanks

I'm sorry to say that I don't think there is a way. It's been asked a few times before, but I haven't found any way to do that. That's one of my pet peeves for not having MicroSD card slots on the Pixels (and many devices these days).
If TWRP is ever updated for Android 12, plus made available for the Pixel 6/Pro, then we should be able to do that.

I routinely backup everything in internal storage to my PC for the express purpose of doing what you ask. I use wireless FTP but you can do it anyway you want. It is easily restored after wiping. As far as doing this with TWRP, I've all but given up hope for that to ever work again. It is effectively obsoleted I'm afraid.

I have my p6pro internal storage synced to OneDrive with the onesync ultimate app, except for /data , but Swift backup takes care of that.

Related

[TIP] How to regain [possible a lot of] internal storage

I tried something tonight and I think discovered a great way to regain internal storage. I had about 1gb left internally and I couldn't figure our what was taking up so much data because it didnt seem like even my largest apps added up to what I was using. The steps reclaimed 7.5gb of space. Thats a lot of "unknown" data if you ask me.
WARNING: THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR INTERNAL STORAGE. Make sure photos, music, downloads, etc. are backed up elsewhere first. (I.e. I had to go into this knowing I would lose all of my Spotify music.)
1) Make a titanium backup of everything just in case something goes wrong with step 2.
2) Reboot into recovery and make a nandroid backup that you SAVE TO EXTERNAL SD Card.
3) Wipe data. I know on TWRP it will show a red triangle and remind you you don't really have to do this. Go forth boldly knowing you have a nandroid.
4) restore your nandroid.
5) reboot and see how much more internal data you have now (share here if it worked.
If anyone smarter than me at android (who are many) and can offer additional input on this, please feel obliged. I can honestly say this worked for me and my phone works just perfectly (and looks thinner doing it )
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I also apologize if this is the oldest trick in the book and I have only just discovered it. But, I know I'm no the only one still figuring out android.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
I think that wipe removes everything from your internal SD card.
And I could be wrong, but I don't think restoring a nandroid will restore EVERYTHING that was on your SD card. Like pictures, music, etc.
So I'd probably suggest backing up the entire SD card contents as well.
Or another option is to use SD Maid to wipe all your old, unused cache/etc. It's safer and won't remove anything you would have wanted to keep.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...en.sdm&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd
Here is the "Pro" version unlocker. I bought it and like it a lot for cleaning up ROM's of old junk.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...SwxLDEsImV1LnRoZWRhcmtlbi5zZG0udW5sb2NrZXIiXQ..
Dumb question: you need to save your nandroid to your EXTERNAL SD card for this to work right? Otherwise it will wipe your nandroid too?
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
sgp77 said:
Dumb question: you need to save your nandroid to your EXTERNAL SD card for this to work right? Otherwise it will wipe your nandroid too?
Sent from my SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most definitely. I'll add that to original post.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
CZ Eddie said:
I think that wipe removes everything from your internal SD card.
And I could be wrong, but I don't think restoring a nandroid will restore EVERYTHING that was on your SD card. Like pictures, music, etc.
So I'd probably suggest backing up the entire SD card contents as well.
Or another option is to use SD Maid to wipe all your old, unused cache/etc. It's safer and won't remove anything you would have wanted to keep.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...en.sdm&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDNd
Here is the "Pro" version unlocker. I bought it and like it a lot for cleaning up ROM's of old junk.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...SwxLDEsImV1LnRoZWRhcmtlbi5zZG0udW5sb2NrZXIiXQ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've used SD Maid (Pro) and it does give some "relief" to storage. However, I've still not achieved nearly the results I have with this method. Also, you have to select each cleaning method one at a time and it can take a while to process results. It's definitely a great option for folks afraid to take this plunge
Thank you for pointing out about the pics and storage. I'll add a warning to rhe OP. I keep all that stuff on my external card (as most probably do), so I didn't think about it. The Downloads folder is something people might want to back up as well.
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
natefish said:
I tried something tonight and I think discovered a great way to regain internal storage. I had about 1gb left internally and I couldn't figure our what was taking up so much data because it didnt seem like even my largest apps added up to what I was using. The steps reclaimed 7.5gb of space. Thats a lot of "unknown" data if you ask me.
WARNING: THIS WILL ERASE EVERYTHING ON YOUR INTERNAL STORAGE. Make sure photos, music, downloads, etc. are backed up elsewhere first. (I.e. I had to go into this knowing I would lose all of my Spotify music.)
1) Make a titanium backup of everything just in case something goes wrong with step 2.
2) Reboot into recovery and make a nandroid backup that you SAVE TO EXTERNAL SD Card.
3) Wipe data. I know on TWRP it will show a red triangle and remind you you don't really have to do this. Go forth boldly knowing you have a nandroid.
4) restore your nandroid.
5) reboot and see how much more internal data you have now (share here if it worked.
If anyone smarter than me at android (who are many) and can offer additional input on this, please feel obliged. I can honestly say this worked for me and my phone works just perfectly (and looks thinner doing it )
Sent from my SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So just so you know, what you have done here is delete all of your data. Titanium backup only backs up the actual APK and installer data. Any larger games like ones from gameloft and allot of others will now need to download their resources again so once you play those games the space will be taken up again.
whoamanwtf said:
So just so you know, what you have done here is delete all of your data. Titanium backup only backs up the actual APK and installer data. Any larger games like ones from gameloft and allot of others will now need to download their resources again so once you play those games the space will be taken up again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a valid point, to an extent. I did not have any games like that installed when I did this and went from 1gb free to 8.5. I gave up playing games like that on my phone because 1) I have an iPad and 2) 16gb is not enough room for that stuff. There is an app (think it's called GL to SD) that will put the extra data those games download onto your external sd card. The biggest thing I lost is Spotify, but I don't mind resyncing that app if it means I just made a heck of a lot more room for more music.
I'm not a developer and I'm not an expert at Android by any means. I do know, however, that my phone runs perfectly fine after this experiment. I think all OS's do this memory cluttering to an extent. I know Windows does and I remember my iPhone doing it as well. I used to restore once in a while just for this reason. So, I don't pretend to know all the reasons, but I can speak from multiple experiences.
whoamanwtf said:
So just so you know, what you have done here is delete all of your data. Titanium backup only backs up the actual APK and installer data. Any larger games like ones from gameloft and allot of others will now need to download their resources again so once you play those games the space will be taken up again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The paid version of Titanium is very powerful. There are settings you can adjust. An odd game I enjoy is paradise Island. I have moved it from an HD2 to a pos gb G2x and on to the GS3. You need a large sdsc card.
Just wanted to confirm that I had the same issue and used a similar process to regain my internal storage. In my case, I had deleted a large amount of files (~7gb's) and never gained the space back in available internal storage.. So I went into recovery (I'm using TWRP) and wiped internal storage, system, data, cache.. Then just installed a fresh rom (stored on my ext sd), bingo, everything seems to be perfect again.
+1 for titanium pro, this helps me keep my storage in check
Or, you download Disk Usage from the app store, run it and delete the largest folders which are typically TWRP or CWM backups....thus saving all of your other data.
And everyone that does this will gain back all of their storage, because they will be completely wiping their internal storage.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda premium
I think I figured out one of the problems
Facebook and google both "sync" their galleries with my phone. thus putting upto 9 gigs of pictures onto my internal storage, without anyway of removing them (so it seems???) I can't disable them in the gallery, and I can't find their physical existence in "my files"
Is there anyway to remove them if they've accidentally synced??
although currently it's too late as I just did a wipe to my phone, deselecting those options I figured I would pose the question and hopefully give someone some food for thought.
EDIT: I also assume this is the same with any other account based app that syncs large file directories. (maybe twitter?)

How to properly backup my HTC 10?

I'm trying to do a full backup of my HTC 10 in case something happens and I need to restore the device to a working state but I'm failing to understand which partitions should I include for that.
These are the partitions I have:
System (3360MB)
System Image (3824MB)
Cache (0MB)
Data (excl. storage) (11451MB)
Boot (64MB)
Recovery (64MB)
I know that Boot is important, but I'm not sure about System or System Image. Which one should I pick and why? Then there's the question of Data... All backup guides I saw mention "Data" but it doesn't contain the "excl. storage" string nor it takes as much space as the one listed on my device. This is a problem because I don't have an SD Card installed and a full backup with all those partitions (even if I just want to include Data) takes too much space and I don't have that much space left on Internal Storage.
What should I do?
https://twrp.me/faq/whattobackup.html
I personally have a System Image backup that I'll likely never need (I just RUU when I want to update) and when I'm doing normal backups I do System, Boot, and Data for my "just in case" backups (like, for if a new ROM doesn't work out).
Additionally, I just transfer all of my files (DCIM, Downloads, and any music or other media files that may be hiding elsewhere in /sdcard) to my laptop for off-site storage and easy access. I don't worry much about my external SD as nothing should touch that unless I tell it to, and I try to keep everything on that card anyway, but I always double check.
If I could make a suggestion: A good 32GB microSD card is under $20 at Walmart (or at any online retailer, obviously) and it's nice to have a physical card that can move around and be separate from the internal file system. I would never assume that $20 is pocket change for anybody, I've certainly gone through seasons where that's an unjustifiable expense, but if you've got some freedom in your budget it might be a worthwhile investment. I got a 64GB card for not much more than that, and it sure is nice to have room to store stuff without hitting the limit.

Silly question but can I replace/reset my ROM without to lose my internal data?

Hi there,
I received my 5X recently that replaced my previous SGS5+ as daily driver.
It's a nice device too with lots of support, as it seems.
However, as I always used to have my data stored on SD cards, I wonder if I can replace or reset my currently in use ROM without to lose things such as music or downloaded files?
Tried MaruOS because I am interested in the concept but neither Casting or the camera seem to work.
Perhaps someone can help out :silly:
Kind regards
The user data (names "external storage" in TWRP I think) will not be wiped, only partitions data, cache boot and system must be wiped when switching ROMs.
Ahh, so I am safe when resetting my phone or switching ROMs again!
Thank you
bootflop said:
Hi there,
I received my 5X recently that replaced my previous SGS5+ as daily driver.
It's a nice device too with lots of support, as it seems.
However, as I always used to have my data stored on SD cards, I wonder if I can replace or reset my currently in use ROM without to lose things such as music or downloaded files?
Tried MaruOS because I am interested in the concept but neither Casting or the camera seem to work.
Perhaps someone can help out :silly:
Kind regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your internal SD and external SD storage should be safe, but you never know. I always backup both to my PC before doing any update or upgrade. That's just common sense. And of course a full TWRP backup of your ROM before doing the same.

Does someone try the adoptable storage since the last Nokia 6.1 update?

Hello,
Normally, in a perfect world, adoptable storage should allow to enhance memory thank to the sd card.
Anyone who tried to use the adoptable storage with the Nokia 6.1 encountered the problem of corrupt datas.
See
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nokia-6-2018/how-to/adoptable-storage-available-pie-update-t3873841
Does someone enough brave already try again to activate this adoptable storage?
Thanks you
yes, I retried it last week (with latest official patch applied).
I migrated > 10GB of data. Afterwards I checked 'DCIM' and 'Download'. All files got totally corrupted (looks like every byte different).
It seems that newly created files were not corrupted. (Was just a fast check with 2-3 pictures)
I migrated back and removed SD card. Files still corrupted. During the last test in ~2019 I figured out that the files some when magically got fixed again some time after migrating back. Hope this happens again this time...
Maybe it also just needs some time after migrating to reencrypt the files for the SD card?
Does anybody know more about the internal processes during and after migration?
Hi, I didn't try the above method, but I used adb commands to format the SD-Card as internal. It basically worked and I am able to run the apps that I migrated to the external card.
HOWEVER:
1. The external card and it's files are completely invisible to any file-system-apps. So I can't see the data.
2. Apps that require some kind of login never keep that login. If you close the app and start it again, you need to login again. This seems to indicated that the apps have been migrated, but are unable to actually use the external space to save new files.
Does anyone think that rooting the device would help?
Cheers,
Calon
my experience with adaptable storage was the same as krisha2k's. all migrated user data I had appeared to become corrupted, and most apps that I moved to the sd card either couldn't save any app data (game saves/logins) or even lost functionality (Snapchat friends list disappeared). some really old and ancient apps that I moved to adoptable storage kept their saves etc (ice cream jump, Neko atsume).
I also found that games with in-app downloads would save their download to the internal storage, as well as external when the app appeared to be stored on the external only.
most apps are broken because of newer android changes that protect external storage write access (and i think read too). I'm not an expert in that though. just speculation
in the end, I just did a factory reset and I've settled with using the sd card as portable storage and storing large files on there (4k video from camera etc).
its a shame because it was a spare 128GB card I had lying around, and I would have liked to have some bigger apps installed, but it doesn't matter too much. but I guess that's just how things are now.
i personally wouldn't recommend doing it. you have potentially everything to loose if you accidentally migrate all your internal data, and what seems to be absolutely nothing to gain.

Can I restore data after flashing android 11

My device was on android 10 then I flashed android 11 using Odin3.
I have lost all data and photos.
Is there any way I can restore the data?
Thank you
Any help experts
up
Maybe. Always backup critical data redundantly at least 2 times on separate hdds that are physically and electronically isolated.
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A7medA50 said:
My device was on android 10 then I flashed android 11 using Odin3.
I have lost all data and photos.
Is there any way I can restore the data?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why don't you use Google Backup and Google Photos? Easiest way to backup your stuff.
For data (but not photo) backups you can also use adb.
xunholyx said:
Why don't you use Google Backup and Google Photos? Easiest way to backup your stuff.
For data (but not photo) backups you can also use adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the victim device was backed up with Google or Samsung cloud this is an option... if it works.
Easiest and the best way is to back it up yourself.
Google backup is a battery and bandwidth hog.
With large data files in the hundreds of GBs it's a sick joke.
Cloud stuff can get hacked and otherwise lost.
Properly stored enterprise class hhds are very reliable and very well isolated.
If you have an SD card slot use that as a data drive. Only the OS, apps, downloads (temporarily) and DCIM (temporarily) go on internal memory.
Set up right you can do a factory reset with zero data loss in about 2 hours.
Nonetheless you always keep the SD card fully backed up!
A .5tb V30 Lexar card is only $64 now... and they run great.
blackhawk said:
If the victim device was backed up with Google or Samsung cloud this is an option... if it works.
Easiest and the best way is to back it up yourself.
Google backup is a battery and bandwidth hog.
With large data files in the hundreds of GBs it's a sick joke.
Cloud stuff can get hacked and otherwise lost.
Properly stored enterprise class hhds are very reliable and very well isolated.
If you have an SD card slot use that as a data drive. Only the OS, apps, downloads (temporarily) and DCIM (temporarily) go on internal memory.
Set up right you can do a factory reset with zero data loss in about 2 hours.
Nonetheless you always keep the SD card fully backed up!
A .5tb V30 Lexar card is only $64 now... and they run great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used to make regular backups to ext SD when I had a phone that had an ext SD slot. Since 2018 (P2XL) I've been on the Pixel line though.
When I was on HTC devices and Samsung before that though, I'd be fearless flashing stuff. I'd always have my TWRP backup on SD to restore if things went sideways.

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