Database Develop

[Q] How Do I Clean My Note ?

Having tried several different custom roms and flashed to and from stock rom, whats the best way to completely clean my system. I read somewhere that flashing a Stock Rom using PC Odin and Flashing the PIT file aswell will clean/format your system.
Is this correct or is there another/better way ?
Cheers

It's correct. Using .pit file and repartition function wipes the entire storage and rebuilds it's partition table - but you have to remember that repartitioning your device is considered to be potentially dangerous.
I'd recommend using data/cache/dalvik wipe ( if you're on GB, if on stock ICS do not wipe data ), then connecting via USB and deleting everything ( even secure and hidden folders ) from your mounted USB storage.

Akiainavas said:
It's correct. Using .pit file and repartition function wipes the entire storage and rebuilds it's partition table - but you have to remember that repartitioning your device is considered to be potentially dangerous.
I'd recommend using data/cache/dalvik wipe ( if you're on GB, if on stock ICS do not wipe data ), then connecting via USB and deleting everything ( even secure and hidden folders ) from your mounted USB storage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice, i'm on ICS ... So you are suggestioning deleting everything on the internal sd card ?
Cheers

Yes, mount your phone via USB Storage and delete everything. After that boot into recovery ( Volume Up + Home + Power ) and clear cache/dalvik. This will delete pictures, music, data stored by apps and apps installed on USB Storage. It will also clear temp files, OTA update files, thumbnail etc.
You can also check if you have the dangerous emmc chip by using this app:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1693704
If your device is not affected, you might try wiping data/factory reset but it's still somewhat of a risk. If it's affected and you're on stock ICS you have two options depending on what you want to do:
1. Flash GB or safe kernel and do a factory reset ( if you want to sell your phone etc )
2. Simply clear history, delete sms/mms or use market apps like "History Erase" which can do this for you.

Akiainavas said:
Yes, mount your phone via USB Storage and delete everything. After that boot into recovery ( Volume Up + Home + Power ) and clear cache/dalvik. This will delete pictures, music, data stored by apps and apps installed on USB Storage. It will also clear temp files, OTA update files, thumbnail etc.
You can also check if you have the dangerous emmc chip by using this app:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1693704
If your device is not affected, you might try wiping data/factory reset but it's still somewhat of a risk. If it's affected and you're on stock ICS you have two options depending on what you want to do:
1. Flash GB or safe kernel and do a factory reset ( if you want to sell your phone etc )
2. Simply clear history, delete sms/mms or use market apps like "History Erase" which can do this for you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the guidance, i have already run the test and i'm clean. I always use abyss kernel.
Cheers

Re-partitioning from PC Odin with a pit file is absolutely safe....it does not involve the kernel bug and will wipe your system clean....in fact I always re-partition with pit when moving to complete stock.....Wiping data from your note with the affected kernels is potentially dangerous....but safe kernels with the MMC_CAP_ERASE removed....like franco kernel from r3, speedmod, dafuq etc...are the safest way to wipe and flash new firmwares...and Finally...yeah pit re-partitioning is safe..... :laugh:

Thanks for all the answers to OP question. I need to ask something as well.
Is it safe to FORMAT /system from CWM? (Of course after I flash a safe kernel+CWM like abyss or thor's or one of the others)

drkalo said:
Thanks for all the answers to OP question. I need to ask something as well.
Is it safe to FORMAT /system from CWM? (Of course after I flash a safe kernel+CWM like abyss or thor's or one of the others)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, i did that on a safe rom. After installing a new rom, i even reformated the sd card, went back to recovery and did data wipes and formatted /system again for good measure.
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search through xda for samsung format utility..
i read sometime back it can format your internal sd card !
hope i helped

commands in cwm recovery

what does these commands in mount & storage of cwm recovery do?
format cache (is it same as wipe cache?)
format system (is it same as factory reset in cwm?)
format data
format preload
format sd card
format emmc
does it hold significance to perform any of these operations during a full wipe for installing a new rom.
Some answers in here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1836150

http://www.team-passion.com/index.php/wiki/19-roms/18-how-to-do-a-squeaky-clean-install
even thought its now called obsolete, I still perform those steps catered to my n7000. As posting suggest a bit overkill, but did prevent a load of issues cause installs are overkill clean.
At own risk of course and best from safe kernel. Id recommend it to everyone going from gb to ics, from ics to gb or even between customs roms.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

lrcquest said:
what does these commands in mount & storage of cwm recovery do?
does it hold significance to perform any of these operations during a full wipe for installing a new rom.
Some answers in here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1836150
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
format cache (is it same as wipe cache?)Yes.
format system (is it same as factory reset in cwm?)It will format your system partition. You will not be able to start your phone unless you flash a new rom
format dataThis will format your data. Same as Factory Reset)
format preloadI hope this is for preloaders which loads before starting the OS.
format sd cardThis will format your Internal SD Card
format emmcThis will format your External SD Card.
Wiping Cache/Dalvik/Data is required to perform a clean install of new rom. There is no need to use these commands unless you want a completely new phone without data (Including Internal/External SD Card).

sahilarora2003 said:
format emmcThis will format your External SD Card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what will format/emmc do if no ext SD present ?

nokiamodeln91 said:
what will format/emmc do if no ext SD present ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It will show error that ext SD not found
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baz77 said:
http://www.team-passion.com/index.php/wiki/19-roms/18-how-to-do-a-squeaky-clean-install
even thought its now called obsolete, I still perform those steps catered to my n7000. As posting suggest a bit overkill, but did prevent a load of issues cause installs are overkill clean.
At own risk of course and best from safe kernel. Id recommend it to everyone going from gb to ics, from ics to gb or even between customs roms.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This way is a bit too much safe!
Sent from my GT-P7300 using XDA Premium HD app

note sometimes emmc and sd are switched, I think in some roms this is the case. I always suggest to take external out, just in case Been there done that
edit: and some kernels
Cleanest install possible for best experience in my opinion
Note, a lot of people do this but always read first post and thread of rom, just to be safest
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

baz77 said:
note sometimes emmc and sd are switched, I think in some roms this is the case. I always suggest to take external out, just in case Been there done that
edit: and some kernels
Cleanest install possible for best experience in my opinion
Note, a lot of people do this but always read first post and thread of rom, just to be safest
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately i realized that way too late, after formatting Sdcard (External card in my case). leaving me with a blank emmc (supposedly internal sdcard).

[Q][SOLVED] Bricked with EMMC bug I think - Anyone have .pit file

Hello
I'm pretty sure that my /data partition was corrupted. Not sure how, maybe using a custom recovery with the ICS kernel, maybe some other way, but it can't be formatted, copied to etc.
I've been reading on some other devices about editing the .pit file after finding out where the corruption is. I'm having trouble using LInux tools since using adb, I don't get the root command prompt, just a $.
Anyone have experience on a P7300 about how to work around the corruption, identify, perhaps run a fsck on the partition?
I'd also be willing to pay a $50 reward for anyone who can get it running again, even with a reduced size data partition, but ideally I'd like to try repairing the damaged partition first.
Thanks
Harry

check "Guide & ToolKit" thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1406137

SOLVED
Discovered after reading the Toolkit and guide that it wasn't an EMMC bug hard brick, thank goodness. I was directed in post #250 to one specific stock ROM to install with ODIN, that supposedly, was the only stock ROM that when you did a wipe data/factory reset, actually recreated the partitions and reformatted them. It is P7310XARLA3_P7310UELA3_HOME.tar.md5
But I had nothing to lose, so I installed the stock ROM with ODIN, booted the stock recovery, did the wipe, and for the first time in about 10 hours of trying this, it was able to format the /data partition, and installed the bootable ROM. After that, I installed a CWM recover in the tar format, and now about to put my old ICS ROM back on, the one in the development section that came from an OTA leak.
Thanks, I hope this helps someone who has problems accessing their /data or /sdcard directories..

[GUIDE] Android deep clean-up / wipe

Now with the release of many JB leaks for our Galaxy Note, more and more people are starting to flash custom ROMs into their devices. However, many don't do a proper clean-up / wipe of their devices before doing so, complaining about supposed "bugs" that in fact are not real bugs, but just incompatibilities with previous app data and config left from the previous ROM or improperly restored from backups (TB etc.).
So, after facing that myself with the first ROMs I flashed, reading a lot of tips from the senior members, and experimenting different approaches, I came up with a method that I always follow before flashing a new ROM, which gives me less or no issues at all.
Pros: you minimize the chance of having issues when flashing a new ROM.
Cons: you have to manually reinstall your apps (can be somewhat automated from Google Play) and reconfigure everything.
Pre-reqs: I'm assuming you have CWM installed and know how to use it, and are not a complete noob. If you don't, search the forums and read the guides. Read this guide fully and make sure you understand everything before proceeding.
IMPORTANT: ONLY wipe your device if you have a SAFE (BRICK-FREE) KERNEL. Check your kernel and search the forums. Don't proceed if you are not sure! I'm not responsible for any bricks, unexpected issues that can happen to you or personal data loss because you forgot to backup that! If you want to stay safe, don't want to experiment with your cell phone, it's critical you have it working everytime, stay with the official Samsung ROMs updates you get OTA and don't proceed with this how-to.
How-to:
1) Boot into recovery and perform a full backup (a.k.a. nandroid) to your internal or external SD card.
2) Reboot, and create backups of personal data needed from your apps in your internal or external SD card. For instance, I backup data from apps which are not cloud-based; they usually have a "backup" menu for that.
3) Plug your device into your computer, and copy everything you need from your internal and external SD cards (including the backups done in 1) and 2)). Don't forget your pictures and MP3 files.
4) Delete any apps and data from your external SD card. Leave it as clean as possible (it's OK to leave personal data such as MP3s, pictures etc.).
5) Copy the ROM you are about to flash to your EXTERNAL SD Card (don't copy to internal, because we are going to wipe it).
6) Boot into CWM Recovery and do the following wipes:
6.1) Wipe data / factory reset
6.2) Wipe cache partition
6.3) Advanced -> Wipe dalvik cache
6.4) Mounts and Storage -> Format /system
6.5) Mounts and Storage -> Format /preload
6.6) Mounts and Storage -> Format internal SD card (make sure you know if your internal SD card if /emmc or /sdcard; see below!)
7) Install Zip -> Flash ROM from your external SD card.
8) Wipe cache partition again.
9) Advanced -> Wipe dalvik cache again.
10) Reboot
11) Don't restore anything from Titanium Backup. Reinstall and reconfigure everything from Google Play. I never tried but I think that if you just restore user apps, it should work. Just never restore system apps and data. The backups you created in step 2) and copied to your computer in step 3) can be safely restored from within the apps themselves.
Now you may ask why we format the internal SD card. Many apps store their configuration and app data there, so this way we ensure no old data and config are there which may be incompatible with the new ROM. In fact it might not be that important, since it's only related to user apps, but I prefer to clean everything before flashing a new ROM.
How to find if your internal SD card is mounted on /emmc or /sdcard in CWM Recovery:
1) Boot into CWM Recovery.
2) Install Zip -> Choose zip from internal sdcard. In the top you can see where yours is mounted (/emmc or /sdcard).
3) This is the partition you should format in step 6.6. Pay attention to not format the external SD card, because the ROM zip file is there!
If you still have issues after flashing a new ROM, try to reflash it without any wipes (i.e. just do step 7 again).
Hope it can help people with their flashing!

Good job

Is it any better to just install user apps from google play and then restore just the data from TB?
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allansy said:
Is it any better to just install user apps from google play and then restore just the data from TB?
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No..the main purpose of the thread is to remove the incompatible app data and system data

Useful.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

dbolivar said:
How-to:
6.1) Wipe data / factory reset
6.2) Wipe cache partition
6.3) Advanced -> Wipe dalvik cache
6.4) Mounts and Storage -> Format /system
6.5) Mounts and Storage -> Format /preload
6.6) Mounts and Storage -> Format internal SD card (make sure you know if your internal SD card if /emmc or /sdcard; see below!)
7) Install Zip -> Flash ROM from your external SD card.
8) Wipe cache partition again.
9) Advanced -> Wipe dalvik cache again.
10) Reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
6.2 ---> unnecessary, because factory reset wipes user data and cache
6.6 ---> how on earth does formatting internal SD card help flashing any Rom?
8) ---> unnecessary, because your cache is already wiped
9) ---> see above

6.2) True, thanks for pointing out.
6.6) Some apps, including ones that usually give strange issues between ROM flashes like SNote, leave data there which may cause incompatibilities with a different version. This incompatibility is just a guess; as I said in the original post, it may not be that necessary to format the internal SD card, but I prefer to make sure there is no old data at all floating around, and this recommendation can also be useful when people are going to sell their devices (many think that just a factory reset is enough).
8) and 9) Is it possible that a new ROM can come with stuff in cache and dalvik cache, say, from the developer testing/cooking environment? If it is, can be useful to clean it again after flashing. Otherwise, I agree, it can be skipped.

Yeah total clean scenario is best. In my opinion. So also SD, but never efs
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I too do things that are not necessary, I have a ritual when doing a deep clean lol
It involves things like the above method, but i do it twice.. No harm in that is there !

azzledazzle said:
I too do things that are not necessary, I have a ritual when doing a deep clean lol
It involves things like the above method, but i do it twice.. No harm in that is there !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wel, better safe then sorry. Totally clean just feels right
Sent from my GT-N7000 using Tapatalk 2

Thank you very much. I will do this like you say.
I have CWM v6.0.1.2 and I don't have format/ preload. What can I do?

You can try to proceed without formatting it, or you can first flash a kernel with a more recent CWM. Always a safe kernel, of course. After flashing it, you can just select "reboot recovery" from your current CWM to boot into the new CWM. I'm not sure if the absence of /preload is due to an old CWM, or it's because you don't have a /preload partition. Anyway, trying a newer CWM won't harm.

i follow this guide , considering that i'm a noob it mean that is written really really clear. Thanks for all your job . i have a clean cooked rooted cell now.

error preload
Hello, I got error when formatting preload
it is said "make_extf4fs failed on/dev/block/mmcblk0p9
and when i'm trying to format/scard it pop up some type format
"deafult
"exfat
"fat
bla bla bla
so i choose default, am i right to choose it?
what should i do?

What device, what recovery, what rom?

dbolivar said:
flashing!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey bro,
i forgot to do step 9
9) Advanced -> Wipe dalvik cache again.
Phone is working fine, but just curious. will it have any effect ? or will it cause any problem later ?

[Q] The wisdom of formatting the system partition

I'm getting ready to update my old ParanoidAndroid (with CWM v5.5.0.4) with the CarbonRom.
I've backed up all kinds of logs, settings, and data that I think I may want to restore with the new rom.
I've also made a CWM backup (although of course I hope not to use it).
My question is - should I format the system partition (from CWM, Mounts & Storage option) before flashing the new rom?
I've seen people say emphatically that to get a clean install you need to do this.
Yet I've seen other's write just as insistently that you should NOT format the system partition. Do they say this because it is too dangerous? If I format the system partition and then for some reason the new rom won't load, does that mean my CWM is wiped out, making it difficult to recover?
I think I do want the system format because I don't want a bunch of old files hanging around ... but I want to make sure this is not too dangerous.
I've also seen others who recommended also formating the boot partition. Is there any value in that? Sounds even more dangerous ... no?
~Paul

pmennen said:
I'm getting ready to update my old ParanoidAndroid (with CWM v5.5.0.4) with the CarbonRom.
I've backed up all kinds of logs, settings, and data that I think I may want to restore with the new rom.
I've also made a CWM backup (although of course I hope not to use it).
My question is - should I format the system partition (from CWM, Mounts & Storage option) before flashing the new rom?
I've seen people say emphatically that to get a clean install you need to do this.
Yet I've seen other's write just as insistently that you should NOT format the system partition. Do they say this because it is too dangerous? If I format the system partition and then for some reason the new rom won't load, does that mean my CWM is wiped out, making it difficult to recover?
I think I do want the system format because I don't want a bunch of old files hanging around ... but I want to make sure this is not too dangerous.
I've also seen others who recommended also formating the boot partition. Is there any value in that? Sounds even more dangerous ... no?
~Paul
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can format system,data, internal storage and cache without any worries if you are on PA rom read install instructions in carbon rom thread after or before.
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