I got a new phone and someone wants to buy my G1 locally and I want to totally wipe it and clear all of my user info. I'm leaving it rooted because it runs SO much better and I just can't bring myself to downgrade it. So if I wipe all cache's / factory reset / re-install ROM will that be good enough to erase my personal information from the phone? Specs are in my sig. TIA -Frank
So here's what I did...
- Deleted everything from SD card.
- Wiped all caches in Amon_Ra recovery.
- Flashed Super E ROM.
- Flashed Gapps.
- Re-Flashed Firerat boot patch.
Booted it up without a SIM card and it started up fine and looks like my user data is gone. What do you guys think...good to go?
Just because its to easy..
You wanted to know how to wipe the G1 fully....... SO you wiped it fully and asked if you did the right thing to fully wipe it.....?
BEst part... you wanted to wipe your info... so you did, its gone, then you ask if you did it right.....
Lol, just making sure
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
lbcoder said:
Guess what?
You didn't wipe ANYTHING except the first 128 kB of the cache and data partitions.
which means that ALL of your data can STILL BE RETRIEVED.
In recovery mode, mount cache and userdata partitions,
dd if=/dev/zero of=/data/zerofile; dd if=/dev/zero of=/cache/zerofile; sync; rm /data/zerofile /cache/zerofile; sync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can it help if you get strange problems?
lbcoder said:
In recovery mode, mount cache and userdata partitions,
dd if=/dev/zero of=/data/zerofile; dd if=/dev/zero of=/cache/zerofile; sync; rm /data/zerofile /cache/zerofile; sync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please could you spell this whole process out for me... how do u mount cache and userdata partitions in recovery mode etc.
Many Thanx
In recovery go to console. Type "mount -a" without the "s and press enter. Afterwards just type the whole line "dd ...." that lbcoder suggested. It will use the input /dev/null (basically an infinite source of consecutive zeros) and direct them to a file called "zerofile" on each partition, thus filling the whole partitions with zeros, overwriting any existing data.
If you want to delete your sdcard also, try this:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/sdcard/zerofile; dd if=/dev/zero of=/sd-ext/zerofile; sync; rm /sdcard/zerofile /sd-ext/zerofile; sync
thanks for the quick reply;]
lol oops, didnt realize who I was replying too lol
Too late now. It's gone. I am pretty sure this person will not be messing about with it.
mblaster said:
In recovery go to console. Type "mount -a" without the "s and press enter. Afterwards just type the whole line "dd ...." that lbcoder suggested. It will use the input /dev/null (basically an infinite source of consecutive zeros) and direct them to a file called "zerofile" on each partition, thus filling the whole partitions with zeros, overwriting any existing data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You got a little brain-fart in there.... /dev/null is the black hole -- its where you SEND stuff that you don't want spewing out on the console. Nothing ever comes out of the black hole.
If you want to delete your sdcard also, try this:
dd if=/dev/zero of=/sdcard/zerofile; dd if=/dev/zero of=/sd-ext/zerofile; sync; rm /sdcard/zerofile /sd-ext/zerofile; sync
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that this wouldn't work, but there's a better way to wipe the sdcard;
umount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/block/mmcblk0
** you don't need to sync this since it writes to the device rather than to the filesystem.
*if there are multiple filesystems on the sdcard that may be mounted, you need to umount them all;
for PART in /dev/block/mmcblk*; do umount $PART; done
robuser007 said:
Can it help if you get strange problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unlikely.
This is what you do to secure the device prior to selling or giving it to someone to whom you don't want to provide access to your data.
lbcoder said:
Unlikely.
This is what you do to secure the device prior to selling or giving it to someone to whom you don't want to provide access to your data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did know where it's meant for, my problems sees to be solved btw (using android 1.0 and back to latest cm6, I reflashed and erased everything).
I'm coming from the other end. I just bought a rooted phone "Super E 1.0.3". What can I do to remove previous owners google account?
Read this thread: forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=454405
But I don't have "Google Apps" under Manage Applications.
I do have things like "com.android.provision"
did a factory reset and his account is still there; along with his phone book. microSD card is not in the phone ATM, don't know if that matters.
EDIT:
Reboot with home and back button held down; wipe data selected from boot loader. Phone is now reset
lbcoder said:
Not that this wouldn't work, but there's a better way to wipe the sdcard;
umount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1; dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/block/mmcblk0
** you don't need to sync this since it writes to the device rather than to the filesystem.
*if there are multiple filesystems on the sdcard that may be mounted, you need to umount them all;
for PART in /dev/block/mmcblk*; do umount $PART; done
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great suggestion. Thanks.
I would also suggest an improvement... use /dev/urandom instead of /dev/zero in each command! And repeat the process 2-3 times.
Since your flash memory is over-provisioned and employs wear-leveling, you are not writing to each physical page of memory if you run this once. A user who bypasses the filesystem and accesses the memory directly could easily spot your non-wiped sectors since the others contain all zeroes. Why help them spot the good stuff? And hopefully by running the wipe 2-3 times, you've upped the odds of touching each physical page at least once.
Related
hello all, just trying to get a little input on the correct procedures for clearing the cache inbetween roms. i recently swithed from cyanmod 4.1.6 to Drizzy's Hero-V1.2r1 . Ive tried several commands in console so far to wind up reading something along the lines of : not found. Could someone inlighten me with the correct commands to do this or even the correct steps such as wipe, flash , yada yada and then what commands. thanks in advance , veritas
ronrey, so ronreyyyy, so ronrey im all aloonnneeeee
When you switch roms the only thing you need to do is wipe your ext partition and wipe your phone (alt + w). I use Ubuntu to clear my partition, but there are commands to do it if thats what your asking.
supremeteam256 said:
When you switch roms the only thing you need to do is wipe your ext partition and wipe your phone (alt + w). I use Ubuntu to clear my partition, but there are commands to do it if thats what your asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
when u switch roms a small trace of them remains behind in the dalvik folder in the internal that doesnt just get cleared using alt+w so there are a set of commands to handle this task and i believe they go something like this rm -rf system/sd/dalvik-cache. along with some pre and post commands, that are the ones im refering to.
actually here is a direct quote of what i found, i just couldnt get these commands to work, so im thinking maybe they differ when switching to hero, maybe not..but they didnt work for me>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Monday, 31 August 2009 18:51 by Simon Walker
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
User Rating: / 1
PoorBest
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So I started running into some performance problems with the Enomther ROM and was considering removing it and going back to Cyanogen. I decided to have a quick chat with Enomther and he gave me some things to do. The results are even more amazing than the first install.
I found out that the dalvik-cache gets carried over between ROM installs and that it can cause problems and that I should delete it, wipe my phone and start again. Enomther gave me this little guide to follow:
Ok ... so reboot into cyanogen's recovery
Press (Alt+x) to enter the console
Enter the following commands ...
mount system
mount system/sd
rm -rf system/sd/dalvik-cache
umount system/sd
umount system
recovery
This will bring you back to recovery, from there perform the "Data Wipe" option in the menu.
When it's done reboot and you should be all good. Of course you'll have to redo your settings, but your apps will reinstall properly.
I get a bootloop on the seconds splash screen with the little green android popping out.
I've tried wiping and reflashing multiple times, as well as repairing the file system extensions. Sometimes, however, it gets to the third "HTC" screen, but then goes back to the green android popping out.
No luck. I'm coming from Cyanogen Mod 4.0.1
If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks.
nasman1993 said:
I get a bootloop on the seconds splash screen with the little green android popping out.
I've tried wiping and reflashing multiple times, as well as repairing the file system extensions. Sometimes, however, it gets to the third "HTC" screen, but then goes back to the green android popping out.
No luck. I'm coming from Cyanogen Mod 4.0.1
If anyone has any ideas, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did you wipe the ext partition?
you need too
Sorry for the noob question, but how do I do that?
Here be sure to follow this or this guide.
i wuld recommend u do the manual partition and only delete the ext2 partition and remake it for a lot more simpler process i.e only rm 2 n rm 3 after print so that your sd card files are not deleted
Dare{D}evil said:
Here be sure to follow this or this guide.
i wuld recommend u do the manual partition and only delete the ext2 partition and remake it for a lot more simpler process i.e only rm 2 n rm 3 after print so that your sd card files are not deleted
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yup thats how i did it, but if you dont want to go through all that, you can follow these steps: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=535797
1.) Turn on the phone holding the home key and power to boot. Attach the phone to your computer via usb.
2.) Wipe your phone from the menu in cyanogen
3.) Open console ALT + X and enter the following commands. Press "Enter" after each line. This wipes the ext partition.
mount -o rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system/sd
rm -r /system/sd/*
or this in adb
adb remount
adb shell
rm -r /system/sd/*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Note: this will delete your apps on your sd as well as userinit files or w/e was there
Code:
to backup your ext partition to your current directory: adb pull /system/sd/ %CD%\sdbackup
to restore back to sdcard: adb push %CD%\sdbackup /system/sd
the easiest way to wipe ext3 partition is in the recovery console with
Code:
mke2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
that is all. one command. and all is gone.
I'm using cyanogen-4.1.999 and for some reason, I'm seeing a massive speed decrease. I got 4.1.99 to run before it, but it also got slow-downs as well. None of cyanogen's roms did this before.
Example. It takes more than a few seconds for the screen to go from off, to maximum illumination (according to system setting that is).
What should I do?
I don't know what rom you were running before cm-4.1.99 but before you flash 4.1.99 make sure you wipe/clear your ext2/3/4 if you are using a second partition. After you have flashed 4.1.99 you should no longer need to wipe/clear your ext partitions when installing new cyanogen versions
ninjavampire said:
I don't know what rom you were running before cm-4.1.99 but before you flash 4.1.99 make sure you wipe/clear your ext2/3/4 if you are using a second partition. After you have flashed 4.1.99 you should no longer need to wipe/clear your ext partitions when installing new cyanogen versions
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crap... I only wiped ALT+W style. Oh well. Should I wipe ALT+W again after reformating?
edit: and when you say second partition, you mean the SDcard right?
Instructions to install cm-4.1.99 and 4.1.999 using cm-recovery1.4
Download tmo1.6, cyanogen 4.1.99 and cyanogen 4.1.999 from cyanogen fourm to root of your sd card (not in any folder)
Boot into recovery mode (home+power)
Wipe
If you are not using a second partition ignore next steps
Enter recovery console any type the following:
#mount -o /system/sd
#rm -rf /system/sd/*
#reboot recovery
Wipe again
Fix filesystems
Continue here if you are not using a second partition
Select option flash any .zip from sdcard and flash the tmo1.6 rom
When it is finished select option flash any .zip from sdcard and flash cm-4.1.99. You can do this with out rebooting your phone after the tmo1.6 flash
When 4.1.99 is finished select reboot option (home+back)
After boot and phone setup turn off your phone and boot into recovery again (home+power)
Select option flash any .zip from sdcard and select cm-4.1.999
When finished reboot phone (home+back) and enjoy the awesomness of Cyanogen!
Tactical Fart said:
Crap... I only wiped ALT+W style. Oh well. Should I wipe ALT+W again after reformating?
edit: and when you say second partition, you mean the SDcard right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I mean the sdcard when talking about second partition
ninjavampire said:
Instructions to install cm-4.1.99 and 4.1.999 using cm-recovery1.4
Download tmo1.6, cyanogen 4.1.99 and cyanogen 4.1.999 from cyanogen fourm to root of your sd card (not in any folder)
Boot into recovery mode (home+power)
Wipe
If you are not using a second partition ignore next steps
Enter recovery console any type the following:
#mount -o /system/sd
#rm -rf /system/sd/*
#reboot recovery
Wipe again
Fix filesystems
Continue here if you are not using a second partition
Select option flash any .zip from sdcard and flash the tmo1.6 rom
When it is finished select option flash any .zip from sdcard and flash cm-4.1.99. You can do this with out rebooting your phone after the tmo1.6 flash
When 4.1.99 is finished select reboot option (home+back)
After boot and phone setup turn off your phone and boot into recovery again (home+power)
Select option flash any .zip from sdcard and select cm-4.1.999
When finished reboot phone (home+back) and enjoy the awesomness of Cyanogen!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ohh i had the same problem too. So Do we need to do the 'alt w' in recovery still?
NOback said:
Ohh i had the same problem too. So Do we need to do the 'alt w' in recovery still?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes in the instructions I posted above "wipe" is the same as "alt+w"
Doing all those instructions seems to be a lil extreme. Clear your data and cache in the browser, google maps, and street view (thats where it's held the most). And then go to terminal and type:
Code:
su
cd /system/sd/dalvik-cache
rm *
exit
exit
Then reboot your phone. It will take awhile for it to boot up like the very first time flashing.
supremeteam256 said:
Doing all those instructions seems to be a lil extreme. Clear your data and cache in the browser, google maps, and street view (thats where it's held the most). And then go to terminal and type:
Code:
su
cd /system/sd/[B]dalvik[/B]-cache
rm *
exit
exit
Then reboot your phone. It will take awhile for it to boot up like the very first time flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fixed typo (dalvik instead of dalvick)
B-man007 said:
fixed typo (dalvik instead of dalvick)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you. Way to keep your eye on the ball son.
This only worked until today. When I checked the directory some (all?) of the files there were restored and I had to "rm *" the directory again. Earlier, it took me about 5 minutes to get the phone to cooperate long enough to order a reboot. Ideas?
Tactical Fart said:
This only worked until today. When I checked the directory some (all?) of the files there were restored and I had to "rm *" the directory again. Earlier, it took me about 5 minutes to get the phone to cooperate long enough to order a reboot. Ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well when you reboot the phone...android remakes those files. thats why it takes so long to boot after you do that. the phone should run smoother then.
Have you tried wiping your ext partition?
B-man007 said:
Have you tried wiping your ext partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. I used sdparted to nuke the whole thing. Now I have a main, swap, and ext2 partitioned card.
Tactical Fart said:
Yes. I used sdparted to nuke the whole thing. Now I have a main, swap, and ext2 partitioned card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
is it in that order? because its in the wrong order then. it needs to be FAT32, EXT, Linux-Swap
you should upgrade to EXT3 as it uses journaling (its safer)
did you try booting without the sd card? (wipe and flash the update, remove the sdcard, and reboot)
is there still a problem with the speed w/o it?
No, my partitions are the order you said they should. It was just a basic reformat without any special paramaters.
Also, the slow downs don't occcur until the phone has been on for a while. A reboot fixes the problem quickly, but while the problem is in place, I can't use "su" in the terminal (the phone is so slow that the su permissions manager can't respond in time to give permission and it refuses) and I can't receive calls. Plus it takes about 5 minutes of fighting to reboot, and thats if I don't pull the battery.
Tactical Fart said:
No, my partitions are the order you said they should. It was just a basic reformat without any special paramaters.
Also, the slow downs don't occcur until the phone has been on for a while. A reboot fixes the problem quickly, but while the problem is in place, I can't use "su" in the terminal (the phone is so slow that the su permissions manager can't respond in time to give permission and it refuses) and I can't receive calls. Plus it takes about 5 minutes of fighting to reboot, and thats if I don't pull the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
im starting to get these problems too. Cyan is going to release anotherr rom (probably today) that aims to fix some of the major errors with the rom according to his twitter. I guess we should just wait and see if it makes it better
cyanogen 4.1.99 and 4.1.999 slow down cure
I upgraded two g1’s to 4.1.99 and then to 4.1.999. First they were slow. I had to upgrade my ext2 partition to ext3. I did this from cyanogen recovery console, 4.1 If you already have 4.1 console installed, Go to console, enter/return, on the keyboard and typed the command, upgrade_fs next to the # and then pressed enter.
If you do not have recovery console 4.1 installed. Use this link below, in the instructions for installing it from the terminal emulator make sure you type, su then press the return/enter then type in the flash command per the instruction.
http://www.cyanogenmod.com/downloads/recovery-image
Then you must be in the 4.1 recovery console, you access by holding down the power and home buttons while rebooting, got to alt-x, Go to console)
in console press enter/return
type the command upgrade_fs then press enter/return then type reboot and press enter/return.
I then downlaoded everything I needed and put them on my sd card and installed following these instructions.
http://www.simplehelp.net/2009/10/04/how-to-install-cyanogenmod-4-1-99-on-your-g1-android-phone/
Worked like a charm and runs fast and stable. Hope this helps.
Hi,
I was curious if there is any way to replace the recovery with CWR (or something similar)? I would like to tinker, but i always feel better about having a backup in case something goes wrong.
Thanks,
Rich
while it is quite impressive that we have things such as angry birds and launcherpro, we dont seem to even have a system dump. i would think that a system dump would be required in order to better understand the rest of the system, including the nook launcher itself. then we could go after a recovery and custom roms. but i think it wont be long. like a week or two, it didnt take long to root it from initial release.
I would assume someone has noticed this, since it seems obvious, but I'll point it out just in case.
Partition 3 is an ext2 partition, which I mounted temporarily. On there are a few recovery files, including factory.zip, which appears to be a full firmware backup. What's puzzling is that factory.zip does NOT seem to be applied when I do a factory reset via Home+Vol Up, as my installed apps on /system are still there (and factory.zip has a script to format and rewrite the system partition).
So....anyone have ideas for how to trigger an update from this zip? It's not as nice as clockwork recovery, but at least we would be able to mess around and restore to factory easily.
clockworx said:
I would assume someone has noticed this, since it seems obvious, but I'll point it out just in case.
Partition 3 is an ext2 partition, which I mounted temporarily. On there are a few recovery files, including factory.zip, which appears to be a full firmware backup. What's puzzling is that factory.zip does NOT seem to be applied when I do a factory reset via Home+Vol Up, as my installed apps on /system are still there (and factory.zip has a script to format and rewrite the system partition).
So....anyone have ideas for how to trigger an update from this zip? It's not as nice as clockwork recovery, but at least we would be able to mess around and restore to factory easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try to strings the u-boot.bin that's in that partition (or in p1). The u-boot environment variables are in there. When one of the recovery modes are triggered, a file called BCB is written with a string presumably instructing recovery on what to do. It's a little hard to follow since the envs have to write the string into memory and call fatsave to save the string into the file.
Here's what I can see is happening:
-up+home recovery writes "boot-recovery recovery --wipe-data-ui"
-some condition (dead battery + charger just plugged in?) writes "boot-recovery --update-package=BOOT:charging.zip"
-too many reboots (looks like >7) without devconf/BootCnt being written with 0 (don't know where this happens) writes "boot-recovery recovery --update_package=MISC:factory.zip"
If you were daring you could probably mount partition 2 and echo 8>devconf/BootCnt and I'd imagine it would force a complete factory.zip install.
edit: BootCnt seems to be binary valued, though ASCII '8' should still trigger it.
-if devconf/DeviceID doesn't exist (this is a copy of the serial number file) then it writes "boot-recovery recovery --update-package=BOOT:romrestore.zip". No ideas about this one.
-finally, if a plain FAT microSD is found with the file "encore_update.zip" then it writes "boot-recovery recovery --update_package=SDCARD:encore_update.zip". Guess how we'll get non-OTA upgrades?
Haha, I was just searching for the string .zip in the recovery binary. I found that, and googled "encore_binary.zip", and here I am again, full circle.
I'm guessing encore_binary.zip only gets flashed from VolUp+Home recovery, right?
I copied factory.zip to my SD and renamed it encore_binary.zip, just to try...Couldn't get it to activate, unfortunately.
clockworx said:
Haha, I was just searching for the string .zip in the recovery binary. I found that, and googled "encore_binary.zip", and here I am again, full circle.
I'm guessing encore_binary.zip only gets flashed from VolUp+Home recovery, right?
I copied factory.zip to my SD and renamed it encore_binary.zip, just to try...Couldn't get it to activate, unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got one better for you:
I tried what I recommended about /rom/devconf/BootCnt and got the "Installing..." screen. Then a boot loop running through the installer over and over.
Then I broke in by putting a Nooter card in the slot. It seems that u-boot uses itest.l to test the boot count, where .l is for long and we wrote just one byte leaving whatever was in the remaining 3 bytes of ram to stick around. Why it bootloops I don't know. So in Nooter I mounted /dev/mmcblk1p2 /mnt then "echo -n -e "\000\000\000\000" > /mnt/devconf/BootCnt", removed the card, and rebooted. No more boot loop!
Then for the lulz: On my PC I did "echo -n -e "\008\000\000\000 > /tmp/foo" and "adb push /tmp/foo /rom/devconf/BootCnt; adb reboot". This (writing a (long)8 ) forced the reboot into recovery and then booted normally when done. After doing this, I noticed that adb is enabled (/data left alone), my user partition untouched, but my root is gone (ramdisk overwritten) and /system was wiped.
So if you wanted to remove all traces of your rooting, use the above to force recovery, then use up+home to force factory reset. The next question (which I'm too much of a wuss to explore) is if the recovery or factory reset will rebuild trashed /system or /data filesystems.
pokey9000 said:
I've got one better for you:
I tried what I recommended about /rom/devconf/BootCnt and got the "Installing..." screen. Then a boot loop running through the installer over and over.
Then I broke in by putting a Nooter card in the slot. It seems that u-boot uses itest.l to test the boot count, where .l is for long and we wrote just one byte leaving whatever was in the remaining 3 bytes of ram to stick around. Why it bootloops I don't know. So in Nooter I mounted /dev/mmcblk1p2 /mnt then "echo -n -e "\000\000\000\000" > /mnt/devconf/BootCnt", removed the card, and rebooted. No more boot loop!
Then for the lulz: On my PC I did "echo -n -e "\008\000\000\000 > /tmp/foo" and "adb push /tmp/foo /rom/devconf/BootCnt; adb reboot". This (writing a (long)8 ) forced the reboot into recovery and then booted normally when done. After doing this, I noticed that adb is enabled (/data left alone), my user partition untouched, but my root is gone (ramdisk overwritten) and /system was wiped.
So if you wanted to remove all traces of your rooting, use the above to force recovery, then use up+home to force factory reset. The next question (which I'm too much of a wuss to explore) is if the recovery or factory reset will rebuild trashed /system or /data filesystems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, factory.zip touches data, but all it does is kill packages.xml and wipe the dalvike cache.
Also, the factory.zip script will reformat mmcblk0p5, so it fixes it in that sense, but I doubt it could recover if you started killing partition layouts and stuff like that.
I was just looking through the updater-script in factory.zip and I noticed this:
Code:
mount("vfat", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p1", "/boot");
I just thought it was interesting that mmcblk0p1 is type vfat.
staulkor said:
I was just looking through the updater-script in factory.zip and I noticed this:
Code:
mount("vfat", "/dev/block/mmcblk0p1", "/boot");
I just thought it was interesting that mmcblk0p1 is type vfat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It has to be, otherwise the OMAP won't find the bootloader.
clockworx said:
Actually, factory.zip touches data, but all it does is kill packages.xml and wipe the dalvike cache.
Also, the factory.zip script will reformat mmcblk0p5, so it fixes it in that sense, but I doubt it could recover if you started killing partition layouts and stuff like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've been messing around with the monster root pack, and can confirm that doing a "Erase and Deregister" doesn't clean out the system; I was still at least half-rooted and nearly unusable. I wiped the transient partitions from CWR and then the eight-boots reset got me back to (what I think is) stock.
I re-applied the monster pack and am having stability issues, but that's another thread, somewhere, I hope...
Dennis
stolenmoment said:
I've been messing around with the monster root pack, and can confirm that doing a "Erase and Deregister" doesn't clean out the system; I was still at least half-rooted and nearly unusable. I wiped the transient partitions from CWR and then the eight-boots reset got me back to (what I think is) stock.
I re-applied the monster pack and am having stability issues, but that's another thread, somewhere, I hope...
Dennis
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only thing that actually fully restored a rooted (via auto-nooter) NC to stock for me besides using clockwork recovery to overwrite the sys, data and boot partitions is the 3 finger salute - power on while holding down N and Vol+. I manually erased the internal memory just in case auto-nooter put junk on there as well.
Stability issues here too. Can't decide whether to go back to stock, cm7 emmc or stock and sd cm7.
Hi
my question is odd, but is completely theoretical
let's say I completely erase all files on the phone
something like "rm -r -f /" from CWM
will I be able to boot into download mode and flash a new firmware?
or are there some directories which we should never mess with on android?
....
or are there some directories which we should never mess with on android?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't mess with your /efs folder or your bootloader.
efs will affect the IMEI, but it won't affect the phone ability to enter download mode
the bootloader is not a file, so afaik you can't just delete it with rm
omrij said:
efs will affect the IMEI, but it won't affect the phone ability to enter download mode
the bootloader is not a file, so afaik you can't just delete it with rm
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Noone said that the bootloader is a file here (except you). I said don't mess with it...and what the point having a phone without the ability to use it as a phone??
omrij said:
Hi
my question is odd, but is completely theoretical
let's say I completely erase all files on the phone
something like "rm -r -f /" from CWM
will I be able to boot into download mode and flash a new firmware?
or are there some directories which we should never mess with on android?
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you have different partitions on your phone.
as long as you just wipe system, data, dbdata or sdcard nothing will happen. your phone will not boot anymore but who cares.
deleting the efs folder would be a bad Idea but that still wont f*** up the device for ever. you'd have to find and destroy the bootloader but I don't think the partition is mounted anywhere so as long as you don't format every entry in /dev/ you should be fine.
But there is no reason to rm -r -f your smartphone. if you want to clean it up go into recovery and format /system / data and /dbdata
Download mode is in the primary bootloader, which is not part of the linux filesystem. So, basically yes, you'd retain download mode
Sent from xda premium app on i9000m.
theduckking said:
But there is no reason to rm -r -f your smartphone. if you want to clean it up go into recovery and format /system / data and /dbdata
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I agree
I just wanted to know how "idiot proof" is the phone
if it can be recovered even if I delete the wrong file "by mistake"
thank you
its almost impossible to kill the SGS to the point of no return. BUT IN THE WRONG HANDS IT DOES HAPPEN !!!
you shouldnt ever need to mess about with things like that, But like you say if it was a mistake im sure there would be some sort of fix.. But just be careful.
as mentioned previously system / data / dbdata / cache ect..... are safe to format. but anything other than that i wouldnt touch... it wouldnt speed up / free memory on the phone so..........
I just wanted to know how "idiot proof" is the phone
Its very idiot proof problem is far to many idiots blindly flash something without reading a single FAQ .
jje