Database Develop

wiping before upgrading rom

Is it 100% neccessary to wipe before updating a rom if its the same rom just a different version? Like I have cyans 3.6.8.1 and want to go to cyans 4.0.1
I'm just looking for some clarification on this matter. I know when you switch roms you want to but I haven't really seen anything concrete on upgrading roms. Any help would be appreciated

No, no, no.... you need to wipe when you use a bathroom, not when you flash software
People will hate me for this but... here it goes
We wipe to avoid problems with the new rom. We DO NOT know if we will have problems, good chance that we will NOT. I never wipe untill something goes wrong, and I was just fine for last 14-15 flashes.
Here's another way to think about it.... do OTA updates wipe your phone? Didn't think so.
Flash away. If you have problems then, and only then, nand back to your previous configuration, wipe, reflash. Don't wipe after flash... Cyan's roms don't like that AFAIK.
Good luck.

SlicedKuniva said:
Is it 100% neccessary to wipe before updating a rom if its the same rom just a different version? Like I have cyans 3.6.8.1 and want to go to cyans 4.0.1
I'm just looking for some clarification on this matter. I know when you switch roms you want to but I haven't really seen anything concrete on upgrading roms. Any help would be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I heard somewhere that it's best to wipe when going from HTC rom to Google rom and vice versa. I know that for cyan's roms that if you rarely have to wipe (I had to wipe when trying out 3.9.11.*), but for the most part you won't have to (went from 3.4.6 to each update until 4.0.1 without wipe)

xidominicanoix said:
I heard somewhere that it's best to wipe when going from HTC rom to Google rom and vice versa. I know that for cyan's roms that if you rarely have to wipe (I had to wipe when trying out 3.9.11.*), but for the most part you won't have to (went from 3.4.6 to each update until 4.0.1 without wipe)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At this point..the only HTC roms we have are Hero and that's a whole another story. Not only you have to wipe but also reformat your sd. Big mess... not worth it IMHO. Your mileage may vary.
Thanks for ppointing this out though...

Personally, I wipe, then repair ext filesystems before I flash a new ROM. The only time I don't is when I'm updating a ROM that I have, cm x.x.x to cm x.x.x, in hich case I'll just repair ext's then flash. But, when in doubt...

Original question(s) seem to be solved.
Closing thread

Flashing over a rom?

So im wondering, what is the standard practise, or based on your own experiences. What is the best way to flash over an existing rom using CWM? What do you do to prepare the fone for new rom, wipe user data, dalvik cache, before or after flashing. Just trying to get a good idea of how to do it.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

going from rom to rom:
put rom.zip on /sdcard/
reboot to recovery
install zip from sdcard
point to rom.zip
flash
reboot
any rom that has been properly done will wipe user data and dalvik cache for you. no need to do it manually

i always flash back to eclair and master clear with odin one click to make sure all files from previous roms are gone then CWM flash new ROM

Pirateghost said:
going from rom to rom:
put rom.zip on /sdcard/
reboot to recovery
install zip from sdcard
point to rom.zip
flash
reboot
any rom that has been properly done will wipe user data and dalvik cache for you. no need to do it manually
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1
Except I do clear the caches manually, but that's just because I have OCD.

CremeFraiche said:
i always flash back to eclair and master clear with odin one click to make sure all files from previous roms are gone then CWM flash new ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lets look at the master clear function shall we?
when you flash to stock...your entire / is stock (RFS, eclair 2.1, /data /system, etc)
essentially, you have just reformatted your root, think of it like formatting your C drive and your sdcard is like a secondary internal drive that contains storage
master clear at this point will only delete items off your /sdcard
roms dont care about your /sdcard, master clear is worthless when you are stock
there was a time where it was necessary to flash to stock to reset the filesystem and then flash the rom. it has not been needed in months, but it continues to get preached as gospel.
even flashing to stock isnt necessary unless you are trying to come from CM7 or MIUI....or if something goes horribly wrong

Thx for info guys, I have flashed a few times and it seemed like now and then my fone must became bogged down and needed to be fully wiped, sound didnt work or lagfix folders bunch of text docs, just seemed cluttered. So if wanted to really clear out junk what would be a good way without having to flash back to stock?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App

Just flash. If you have a problem then back to stock Ans a MC. I have flashed hundreds of time back to stock once.
Sent from my SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App

Pirateghost said:
lets look at the master clear function shall we?
when you flash to stock...your entire / is stock (RFS, eclair 2.1, /data /system, etc)
essentially, you have just reformatted your root, think of it like formatting your C drive and your sdcard is like a secondary internal drive that contains storage
master clear at this point will only delete items off your /sdcard
roms dont care about your /sdcard, master clear is worthless when you are stock
there was a time where it was necessary to flash to stock to reset the filesystem and then flash the rom. it has not been needed in months, but it continues to get preached as gospel.
even flashing to stock isnt necessary unless you are trying to come from CM7 or MIUI....or if something goes horribly wrong
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would definitely agree. I have also seen people say to disable lagfix before flashing. I have not done that either and never had any problem.

Would just like to amend the advice already given with the following:
Pre-flashing:
1. Titanium Backup of apps and data
2. Nandroid backup in case something goes boom.
Post-flashing (assuming success):
TB restore of user apps/data only. NEVER RESTORE SYSTEM FILES.
They may not apply to some people, but I feel those are necessary steps for anyone that actually uses their phone daily.

modest_mandroid said:
Would just like to amend the advice already given with the following:
Pre-flashing:
1. Titanium Backup of apps and data
2. Nandroid backup in case something goes boom.
Post-flashing (assuming success):
TB restore of user apps/data only. NEVER RESTORE SYSTEM FILES.
They may not apply to some people, but I feel those are necessary steps for anyone that actually uses their phone daily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
why not restore system files? Does this apply if coming from flashing back to stock first, or just flashing from one rom to another?
Glad to hear the advice about not flashing back to stock, that's been one of the major reasons I haven't flashed quite as many rom's as I want, too time consuming.........not to say that i'm not flashing a couple rom's a week, but there's just so many options to try

neophile said:
why not restore system files? Does this apply if coming from flashing back to stock first, or just flashing from one rom to another?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Making "search" a standard practice would be very helpful.
Restoring system is known to mess up ROMs in all cases. Though may not be mandatory, but make it a standard practice to flash stock. Takes hardly 10 mins, and helps save big headaches later.

neophile said:
why not restore system files? Does this apply if coming from flashing back to stock first, or just flashing from one rom to another?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Incompatibilities across rom versions, mostly. As the guy above me said, restoring system files tends to mess up a rom because you are overwriting part of it with files from a different rom.
There is one caveat, however. If you're flashing back to a rom you originally performed the backup on, you can safely restore system files. For example, if you were running Cog 4.3 and did a full TB backup, then decided to flash Serendipity 6.3, you would want to restore only your user apps and user data. However, if you decided to flash back to Cog 4.3 at some point, you could do a full TB restore without worrying about incompatibilities.

I agree with everyone else. Flashing over another rom seldom causes issues. I make s nandroid backup of my favorite rom with everything setup the way i like it. then flash away trying different roms. When i am done, i just restore my backup and all is good!

I have done a search, couldn't find the specific answer I needed, hence my asking. Could be I wasn't phrasing the search correctly......but here I am.....
To clarify, what do you dpo to get your system settings back after flashing a new rom? I flashed to serendipty 6.4 last night, as per the advice, I didn't restore system files, just apps and data, but that didn't work so well for me. I lost my data connection, could only use my wifi, and had no contacts, or any sms msgs. I don't know what else was missing, but I then went and restored system files, everything came back as needed, and there seems to be no issue......
How do I get my info setting back, or do I just need to manually re-set everything after flashing? Apart from wireless info, msgs and contacts, what else do you lose by not restoring?
Appreciate your help

havent flashed a new rom in a while and forgot if anything extra was needed when flashing a rom over a rom
thx!

[Q] Any point going back to stock?

I've had my Bell I9000m for almost two years now. I've loaded lots of roms (at least 8) and right now running hacksung v17.
My phone seems to be working just fine, but;
After all this time would it be worthwhile to flash back to stock rom and then mod again? I am just thinking all those older roms I flashed must of left junk behind on the phone.
Will I have to root my phone again?
I have never done this before, I have read lots of threads and have the stock KG3 rom ready to go.

I was thinking the same thing. I'm sure that you would have to re root but I don't know if it would completly format the phone.

If every thing is running fine there is no reason to return to stock,it is the stock firmwares that contain the "junk", as long as you clear caches,data every once in a while when flashing a new update or new rom then you will be fine , and yes if you go back to stock you will have to re root it before starting again.

Ok, let me put it this way.
Is there anyway I can completely wipe out the phone (all the folders.. etc) without going back to stock and then flash Hacksung 7 again?
thanks

Format SD card?

snapper.fishes said:
Format SD card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Has nothing to do with the internal memory. So really is pointless.

You would just have to wipe cache , data and dalvic then reflash rom and gapps( nadroid backup first tho.)
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium

[Q] how to update aosp cm10 hashcode rom in safestrap v3.5?

first off let me say im a newbi and just started flashing roms, and just wondered how i should go about updating a existing rom in ss3. i just need to know if i should just flash the new zip over the same rom slot or do i need to wipe everything and pretty much make a whole new rom? sorry if its a dumb question but i just cant seem to find a step by step answer to do this, and just so u know your answers are much appreciated.

adizzle23 said:
first off let me say im a newbi and just started flashing roms, and just wondered how i should go about updating a existing rom in ss3. i just need to know if i should just flash the new zip over the same rom slot or do i need to wipe everything and pretty much make a whole new rom? sorry if its a dumb question but i just cant seem to find a step by step answer to do this, and just so u know your answers are much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are fine to flash a new build over an old one without wiping data. Just wipe cache and dalvik cache, flash the new build, reboot and your good to go. The exception is if you are moving to a new version of android (CM9 to CM10) or if you are moving to a different ROM (CM10 to AOKP). In those instances you would want to wipe data as well.
Droid 4 - AOKP JB

Thanks, I do appreciate it. that's what I was thinking but you always want to be sure when doing this kind of stuff on your device.
sent from my droid 4/ cm10.

How to keep data when flashing new ROM

I have the exykings ROM I have magisk, viper and Dolby. I don't really want to do everything new again when flashing. When a new build comes how can I still keep my data like viper and Dolby?

R77 said:
I have the exykings ROM I have magisk, viper and Dolby. I don't really want to do everything new again when flashing. When a new build comes how can I still keep my data like viper and Dolby?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you wipe cache and dalvik cache then you flash rom on top.

R77 said:
I have the exykings ROM I have magisk, viper and Dolby. I don't really want to do everything new again when flashing. When a new build comes how can I still keep my data like viper and Dolby?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium Backup Pro. back up your apps with data, run a batch command to restore them once youve properly installed the new ROM
bober10113 said:
you wipe cache and dalvik cache then you flash rom on top.
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Click to collapse
this has historically been known to cause issues. its always best to factory reset at least once, wipe caches, reboot into TWRP, install new ROM(and GApps, if needed), go into file manager within TWRP and delete the android folder (just for good measure), boot and restore your apps/data with a backup app used before getting into the installation process

youdoofus said:
Titanium Backup Pro. back up your apps with data, run a batch command to restore them once youve properly installed the new ROM
this has historically been known to cause issues. its always best to factory reset at least once, wipe caches, reboot into TWRP, install new ROM(and GApps, if needed), go into file manager within TWRP and delete the android folder (just for good measure), boot and restore your apps/data with a backup app used before getting into the installation process
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Click to collapse
lol nuke it from orbit each time because there's a new rom base for that particular custom rom. yeah sure...
5% of the time when there really is an issue with a new build i think i have enough insight to know what to do.
changing rom completely yeah for sure. but i did respond specificially to his question where he was referring on maintaining the team exykings rom from update to update.

bober10113 said:
lol nuke it from orbit each time because there's a new rom base for that particular custom rom. yeah sure...
5% of the time when there really is an issue with a new build i think i have enough insight to know what to do.
changing rom completely yeah for sure. but i did respond specificially to his question where he was referring on maintaining the team exykings rom from update to update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
more often times than not, the 5% you mentioned are unaware of what to do if an issue arises. i wasnt trying to tell you what to do, moreso just bring it up into conversation for those just-in-case situations

youdoofus said:
more often times than not, the 5% you mentioned are unaware of what to do if an issue arises. i wasnt trying to tell you what to do, moreso just bring it up into conversation for those just-in-case situations
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I were to go to advanced wipe when flashing a new build if I were to leave data option alone. Will that keep all of my data or not?

edit:
@R77
but that's what he says to not do. if you do so you maybe in the 5% and you just may have problems.(wiping all but data is considered a dirty flash)
but what i am telling you is that just wipe cache and dalvik cache and flash rom of the same dev. you should be fine. if you are not fine, and have weird stuff going on use regular factory wipe option in twrp wipe menu.
so one method is called: a clean flash.
the other called: a dirty flash.
on the same rom, dirty flash works fine 96 to 100% of the time. so dont worry about it.
if you flash an other rom from an other dev then clean flash is recommended for sure.
so its very simple as you can see. some have a tendency to make it appear difficult.

bober10113 said:
but that's what he says to not do. if you do so you maybe in the 5% and you just may have problems.(wiping all but data is considered a dirty flash)
but what i am telling you is that just wipe cache and dalvik cache and flash rom of the same dev. you should be fine. if you are not fine, and have weird stuff going on use regular factory wipe option in twrp wipe menu.
so one method is called: a clean flash.
the other called: a dirty flash.
on the same rom, dirty flash works fine 96 to 100% of the time. so dont worry about it.
if you flash an other rom from an other dev then clean flash is recommended for sure.
so its very simple as you can see. some have a tendency to make it appear difficult.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ive been flashing ROMs since the OG HTC Evo 4G and am keenly aware of the definitions and consequences of dirty flashing vs clean flashing. The android folder should be deleted irrespective of what youre flashing if we're being forward. I guess we are just going to overlook the hundreds of versions of various rom builds that REQUIRED a clean flash every time otherwise bugs were known to occur.

youdoofus said:
ive been flashing ROMs since the OG HTC Evo 4G and am keenly aware of the definitions and consequences of dirty flashing vs clean flashing. The android folder should be deleted irrespective of what youre flashing if we're being forward. I guess we are just going to overlook the hundreds of versions of various rom builds that REQUIRED a clean flash every time otherwise bugs were known to occur.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
did i make it sound like i was replying to you?
guess i should have quoted him to make it obvious.
and again, if he's on rom A 1.0 and wants to upgrade to rom A 1.1 then no need to clean wipe or del android folder each and every time.
have you ever had an OTA ? samsung dosent wipe clean ure device just because u upgrade. so his question regarding a similar scenario would apply, dirty flash would work fine.
and again as stated before, if there is weird stuff happening then just clean wipe. no need to get nuclear each and every time.
btw various rom builds require clean flashes because they suppose people are coming from other roms. not saying that there aren't situations where continuously dirty flashing the same custom rom all along its progress wouldint eventually mandate ir benefit from a clean flash but i know of no one that clean flashes each time their rom dev updates/increments a build. they/we only do it incase of issues, this is of some sorts an unwritten law so to speak. devs even state it when users ask if they can do as such.