Database Develop

Cant wipe all data with factory reset or Odin 1 click!!! HELP

Hi, Im trying to exchange my phone and Im having issues with getting the phone bone stock. I used odin 1 click, did a factory data reset, and all my pictures, app folders and various other things are still on the internal SD card. I was using titanium backup, I think thats the cause (not sure though)
I also just flashed JH3, super rooter, and the OC kernel. But as far as I can tell, those are back to factory. I just cant wipe all my data and I dont know if doing it manually will clear up everything.
Suggestions/questions? Thanks!

I even tried the master clear. I can still see files for shootme, sl4a, clockworkmod, update.zip's, and tons of other folders including busybox

Did you try connecting your phone to your computer, mounting the sd card, then open the driver than your sd card is on and manually delete the files that way? You can move the titanium back up to an external sd card and see if that helps.
Go to Titanium Backup support and shoot them a pm, they got back to me within a day when I had questions if you think it's related to that.

Rhiannon224 said:
Did you try connecting your phone to your computer, mounting the sd card, then open the driver than your sd card is on and manually delete the files that way? You can move the titanium back up to an external sd card and see if that helps.
Go to Titanium Backup support and shoot them a pm, they got back to me within a day when I had questions if you think it's related to that.
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Click to collapse
I can do that, But what Im worried about is all the application data (including data for apps that require root) wont be deleted. Im not sure exactly what I would have to do to remove that as well. I wanted to leave it there, so that if I did manage to wipe it, Id know for sure everything was gone.
Ill also try sending them a message. Is it on that forum site they link to? Its not very clear as to how to contact them

commander2k said:
I can do that, But what Im worried about is all the application data (including data for apps that require root) wont be deleted. Im not sure exactly what I would have to do to remove that as well. I wanted to leave it there, so that if I did manage to wipe it, Id know for sure everything was gone.
Ill also try sending them a message. Is it on that forum site they link to? Its not very clear as to how to contact them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.legendroid.com/titanium-backup-official-support/
I pm'd Shazd, I have the pro donated version so I had everything backed up, moved the folder for Titanium Backup and the folder for Titanium license to my exteral card. Then I flashed with Odin to stock and swapped my phone for a new one. Then I put the sd card in the new phone, connected to my computer and moved the files to the internal sd, installed Titanium from the market and when it installed my entire backup was there, settings, apps, and data were all there. I did a restore and everything was just as my old phone. Then I installed Unleash The Beast, the cool battery indicator, thanks to Designgears and the rest is history. When I flashed with Odin, all evidence of root were gone. AT&T didn't even check the phone, all I said was random shutdowns and a crack in the screen and they swapped it.

I have the paid donate version as well. I mean, I have the backup saved to my microsd and on my computer, Its just weird, I mean for some reason its not wiping. Im literally trying everything. I had a backup with clockwork mod and I re-rooted with 1 click root so that I could run that... It may be super rooter, Im starting to think thats more the case. But I really am just stumped

I flashed with Odin3 one click, maybe that's the difference. What did you use exactly?

Rhiannon224 said:
I flashed with Odin3 one click, maybe that's the difference. What did you use exactly?
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Both versions lol. 1-click and version 1.0 or whatever by flashing the stock firmware Jh6 from samsung-firmwares.com. I even tried a factory data reset
It may just be files in my internal SD card themselves that arent being deleted... but Im not really sure

It didn't wipe all of my info when I did master clear and then doing the one click wipe. I'm bit sure why it wouldn't either but it did remove most of what I wanted gone.
Sweet life

Huh... Well I did a bunch of clear cache things, wiped my internal sd, and went throught my phone with root explorer and deleted whatever else I found. Wow that was a huge hassle

I think the best thing to do in the future is clear all user data through clockwork, then use odin for master clear then odin start to do it all. It is a hassle that's for sure.

The SD cards (internal and external) are not cleared with a full system wipe. When you delete all data through a system clear, it deletes everything stored internally to apps - in the phone memory where apps are installed.
Although the internal SD card is not really an SD card, the system treats it as an SD card. You can unmount both internal and external SD cards and then format them - that will wipe all data. Follow that with a system reset or Odin 1 click recovery and everything on your phone is factory new.
The phone is behaving as designed.

[Q] Possibly quick noob question? Help needed! :)

Right now I'm using CM 6.1.1 on my Nexus One. When I flashed CM for the first time I wiped my SD card right after I installed the ROM, so I really don't remember too much about what happened to my apps or anything like that. So, my question is, if I want to install CM 7, can I just wipe my phone with ROM manager right before installing it, and then not wipe my SD card afterwards? Will the apps, pictures, ect., that is on my SD card right now magically appear untouched on CM 7? I guess I'm just not sure how the SD card contents will be affected when flashing ROMs, and I'm not sure if after you flash a new ROM, the ROM can use all of the stuff that's on your SD card just like the ROM you had before did.. Does that kinda make sense? I feel dumb for asking all this. Also, when I save a backup of my ROM, the backup will just be a copy of all of my phone's internal memory and the operating system, right? And when I wipe my phone and install a new ROM, the new ROM just replaces all of my phone's old contents? So if I ever flashed my original ROM again, it'd bring back all of my phone's contents, system memory, operating system, apps installed on the phone, ect?
Thanks for taking the time to read my long, poorly written batch of questions Help would be very very appreciated!

SD card isn't touched when flashing ROMs.
You can restore your backup and it'll be all like it was.
If you use DT A2SD - things start being more complicated.

Yumunum said:
can I just wipe my phone with ROM manager right before installing it, and then not wipe my SD card afterwards?
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Click to collapse
Yes, you can leave your SD contents as is, they won't be touched.
Will the apps, pictures, ect., that is on my SD card right now magically appear untouched on CM 7?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pictures, Music, Videos etc that are stored on the SD card will remain untouched by flashing a new ROM, however apps are a different story. Basically you've got two main types of Apps on SD cards. The first is froyos implementation which is basically used to free up space on the phone memory but will not survive a wipe or flashing a new ROM. The alternative is Dark Tremors A2SD which uses a dedicated partition on your SD card (Created through recovery) to store apps by tricking the system into thinking the folder on your SD card is actually on internal memory. Once a new ROM is installed over the current (Which obviously must use DT A2SD also) these apps should be available again with their settings etc remaining.
I guess I'm just not sure how the SD card contents will be affected when flashing ROMs, and I'm not sure if after you flash a new ROM, the ROM can use all of the stuff that's on your SD card just like the ROM you had before did
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Again, all data/media remains but apps require A2SD or its variants.
Also, when I save a backup of my ROM, the backup will just be a copy of all of my phone's internal memory and the operating system, right?
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Click to collapse
When you backup/nandroid you take a screenshot of sorts of your system. By default I think most recovery images save the boot, system, data and cache partitions when a backup is being made. Certain recoveries offer to backup other partitions such as sd-ext (Where A2SD stores the apps). Backups are designated by folders with a time stamp, I personally rename these to reflect the contents e.g. MM.v.20 tells me this is MicroMods v.20 of his GB ROM. Obviously yours will differ but I find this keeps things organised. Basically think of nandroid as the Android equivalent of Acronis true image or Norton Ghost for the PC. It lets you create any number of backups which will restore your device to the exact state at the moment of backup.
And when I wipe my phone and install a new ROM, the new ROM just replaces all of my phone's old contents?
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A newly flashed ROM will basically restore your device to factory settings but on the new ROM. Once you've signed in to your Google account certain settings and content will be automatically downloaded e.g. Calendar appointments, Contacts. Other settings will not be restored e.g. Display brightness, alarms.
So if I ever flashed my original ROM again, it'd bring back all of my phone's contents, system memory, operating system, apps installed on the phone, ect?
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Nope, again it would return to the factory settings. However you can restore nandroid backups you have made of your original ROM which would return the system exactly to its previous state.
Basically if you're on a stock ROM it won't have A2SD. If you wish to use A2SD from now on then find a ROM which uses it, partition your SD card appropriately (Plenty of guides around) and you'll have minimal problems moving from ROM to ROM. As for Nandroid you'll find that most ROM devs recommend wiping all data from the phone (Not SD card) before flashing their ROM. Otherwise files or settings from other ROMs can cause some undesired effects on your current one.
Good luck and get reading the Nexus wiki, it's very helpful for these types of questions
Note: For some reason I vaguely remember someone noting that Froyos A2SD can be used to move apps to another ROM or at least the base app itself (If not the individual setup/settings) but I can't seem to find any info after a quick Google and it never interested me enough to look into it further. Perhaps someone can clear this up?

Hollow.Droid said:
Note: For some reason I vaguely remember someone noting that Froyos A2SD can be used to move apps to another ROM or at least the base app itself (If not the individual setup/settings)
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I dont think thats true.. suppose it's formatted during a wipe.. titanium backup serves the purpose like a charm.. (with all the settings for the apps and the resumes for the games)
Sent from my Nexus One

I have a similar question to the OP. I use a 1GB EXT through DT's A2SD. If I wanted to flash a new ROM would the following be my step-checklist?
1 - Nand backup (just in case)
2 - Backup apps with Titanium
3 - wipe system data & cache
4 - flash new rom
5 - restore apps?
I'm just wondering what the procedure is to keep the apps in A2SD on a new flash without re-setting up.

Wiggz said:
I have a similar question to the OP. I use a 1GB EXT through DT's A2SD. If I wanted to flash a new ROM would the following be my step-checklist?
1 - Nand backup (just in case)
2 - Backup apps with Titanium
3 - wipe system data & cache
4 - flash new rom
5 - restore apps?
I'm just wondering what the procedure is to keep the apps in A2SD on a new flash without re-setting up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah that would be fine..
btw 1: if you upgrading a cm nightly, you need not wipe system n cache..
2: if you do a titanium backup before, then you can finish all the steps in the recovery in one go..
n I dint quite get what you are asking. but from what I know, apps 2 sd folder (ie android.secure) is erased in a wipe.. that isnt changing
Sent from my Nexus One

shreyas - thanks for your help.
I understand the A2SD (EXT) partition onthe sd will be wiped, but I'm assuming I would have to do nothing to get the new rom to see the ext and use it?
That's really my question. Would recovering my apps from Titanium push them back on the A2SD location or would I need to install A2SD again?

i don't think so..
I suppose that the pro version must support the direct a2sd.. but give it a try.. if it dosent work then you have do manually..
Sent from my Nexus One

Data Recovery

I know before I start that this is a dumb question, but are there any utilities for Android/Galaxy S for Data Recovery?
I have just had a difficult time flashing a new ROM, and at the end of it the system has been wiped, including all data on the internal SD card, in the past when flashing new ROMs only the internal memory was affected, but like I said, this time I had a few issues.
What I'm most concerned about are my photos and videos, I know in a Windows environment recovery tools work well, I'm just hoping Android is the same, but I think I'm wrong.

eeney said:
I know before I start that this is a dumb question, but are there any utilities for Android/Galaxy S for Data Recovery?
I have just had a difficult time flashing a new ROM, and at the end of it the system has been wiped, including all data on the internal SD card, in the past when flashing new ROMs only the internal memory was affected, but like I said, this time I had a few issues.
What I'm most concerned about are my photos and videos, I know in a Windows environment recovery tools work well, I'm just hoping Android is the same, but I think I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have seen it suggested that once you can mount the internal SD to your PC, you can use the same tools you would use to recover data from any SD card. I can't confirm that however.
I would imagine that the main problem will be having data overwritten when you installed the new ROM. However, you can't lose anything by trying.
I try to save all such things on the external SD as much as possible, out of fear of just this sort of issue. Also it is a good idea to backup to your PC or to Dropbox any pictures or videos on your phone you couldn't bear to lose if someone swipes your phone...or if the SD is formatted.

Google Recuva and try what you can recover .
But wipe means wipe even under windows .
jje

Thanks guys, I did try a standard windows based data recovery on the mounted SD, which found a lot of data, however I am unable to locate my photos and videos.
I can find a lot of the photos by searching for jpegs, however all the ones I retriever are very small, much smaller than the original resolution. I'm starting to wonder where the full size images are stored and if they are stored as jpgs.
Seems odd that I can find the small image files but not the originals, the smalls ones are between 40 and 100kb each.
any more ideas?

eeney said:
Thanks guys, I did try a standard windows based data recovery on the mounted SD, which found a lot of data, however I am unable to locate my photos and videos.
I can find a lot of the photos by searching for jpegs, however all the ones I retriever are very small, much smaller than the original resolution. I'm starting to wonder where the full size images are stored and if they are stored as jpgs.
Seems odd that I can find the small image files but not the originals, the smalls ones are between 40 and 100kb each.
any more ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a strange question, but are you SURE the photos themselves were stored on the internal SD? I often store things on the external card and forget I set it up that way. You may want to check through all the folders on the external SD and see what is hiding there.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

Data recovery froom Android/Galaxy S
Hi,
Sorry to hear of your difficulty. You are absolutely correct you can use any of the data recovery software to recover your lost data.
Regards,
Stellar Phoenix Solutions
[email protected]
"trusted data recovery solutions"
eeney said:
I know before I start that this is a dumb question, but are there any utilities for Android/Galaxy S for Data Recovery?
I have just had a difficult time flashing a new ROM, and at the end of it the system has been wiped, including all data on the internal SD card, in the past when flashing new ROMs only the internal memory was affected, but like I said, this time I had a few issues.
What I'm most concerned about are my photos and videos, I know in a Windows environment recovery tools work well, I'm just hoping Android is the same, but I think I'm wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Changing internal SD to portable storage for root

I want to flash Xposed Framework and some other things to my phone, but I figured out that TWRP cannot find my zips in the internal SD card. I think I need to change my internal SD card back to portable storage in order to flash things. I backed up my data (Nandroid) so when I do change my SD card to portable, I can recover everything. Will changing my SD card affect SuperSU or anything on my phone?

fairnightzz said:
I want to flash Xposed Framework and some other things to my phone, but I figured out that TWRP cannot find my zips in the internal SD card. I think I need to change my internal SD card back to portable storage in order to flash things. I backed up my data (Nandroid) so when I do change my SD card to portable, I can recover everything. Will changing my SD card affect SuperSU or anything on my phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that few days ago, I rooted 7 days ago , and find out that in MM you can format sd card as internal memory. Wasn't with android for the last 2 years and i am learning every day about new features that i missed.
I formatted sdcard to internal and coudn't flash enything, however if you copy that zip to /data folder you can see it. Huge problem is that nandroid cannot be performed, I usually have 2 backups always and with 5GB of availabole memory, and 2-3 gigs are already taken it is impossible to backup my system which takes around 3 GB of data, even more .
I was thinking about getting USB OTG cable and external flash for nandroid and dflashing things, but still I am looking for some news about TWRP support for internal memory in some new editions.
When I switched back to normal mode ( sdcard as portable storage ) I didn't lost anything, only thing that you want to take care of is that when you are ready to switch back your sdcard as a portable, to perform migrate option and leave phone to do it ( 5 minutes ), to free sdcard and move back data to internal ( if there is a space enoough on internal so that is one more problem to care about.
I also asked this question and got no answers, but I really do like to know how other members manage their free space with this MM stuff, which is good but very limiting so far.

dejson said:
I did that few days ago, I rooted 7 days ago , and find out that in MM you can format sd card as internal memory. Wasn't with android for the last 2 years and i am learning every day about new features that i missed.
I formatted sdcard to internal and coudn't flash enything, however if you copy that zip to /data folder you can see it. Huge problem is that nandroid cannot be performed, I usually have 2 backups always and with 5GB of availabole memory, and 2-3 gigs are already taken it is impossible to backup my system which takes around 3 GB of data, even more .
I was thinking about getting USB OTG cable and external flash for nandroid and dflashing things, but still I am looking for some news about TWRP support for internal memory in some new editions.
When I switched back to normal mode ( sdcard as portable storage ) I didn't lost anything, only thing that you want to take care of is that when you are ready to switch back your sdcard as a portable, to perform migrate option and leave phone to do it ( 5 minutes ), to free sdcard and move back data to internal ( if there is a space enoough on internal so that is one more problem to care about.
I also asked this question and got no answers, but I really do like to know how other members manage their free space with this MM stuff, which is good but very limiting so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So if I move the zip to the data folder, I can flash? If so, could you show me step by step, because I tried but it wouldn't let me copy or paste anything. If not, I could just backup my photos (all other data not important), redownload the apps from the playstore, then just use link2sd to move the apps to portable SD card.

fairnightzz said:
So if I move the zip to the data folder, I can flash? If so, could you show me step by step, because I tried but it wouldn't let me copy or paste anything. If not, I could just backup my photos (all other data not important), redownload the apps from the playstore, then just use link2sd to move the apps to portable SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wll actually i found that here post #6, you have to use root explorer or similar app.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/htc-one-m8/help/internal-storage-twrp-external-sd-card-t3242540
You can save apks with titanium backup and restore it with update.zip option ( to save a lot of time of redownloading apps.
link2sd doesn't work with MM, requires that micro sd is formatted as internal.
There is workaround and I will maybe test this tonight and will let you know if it works.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=65411424&postcount=19

Thanks, dejson! I figured out that I wasn't using a root explorer, so I downloaded Solid Explorer and moved the zip to data/media and it worked! Thanks a lot for helping me!

fairnightzz said:
Thanks, dejson! I figured out that I wasn't using a root explorer, so I downloaded Solid Explorer and moved the zip to data/media and it worked! Thanks a lot for helping me!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhm, there is a thank you button also available .
Glad you did it mate, I tested everything with sdcard formatted as internal, but losing option to perform nandroid is not the compromise that I am able to consider.
I was very tired last night and accidentally deleted a lot of things from sdcard which was formatted as internal, I forgot to migrate data, but luckily fresh nandroid backup was taken just before testing and saved to laptop.
I can confirm that after installing apps2sd from playstore, and after that I installed link2sd and boom, the app is working good. This kernel supposedly doesn't have init.d enabled [decypher] so I need to test even more because even when it was working every few minutes i was receiving message from system that sdcard is corrupted and some minor errors.
This idea about first installing apps2sd is something that I found somewhere, and it is not my invention. So I think that after some more testing I week find a way to finally utilize my big sdcard.

TWRP Quickie

I've been wanting to ask this question forever, but havent and just dealt with it. Never experimented either.
When using TWRP to flash a new rom do i have to wipe my internal storage? Does that really ruin the flash? Again, never tried it id just rather ask. Its annoying to transfer my music and large files. Every time i flash a new rom i wipe everything and have to move the 12 gigs of files i enjoy using on my phone pretty often. So if i dont have to wipe them out every time that would be awesome to know.

Nope.

OcazPrime said:
I've been wanting to ask this question forever, but havent and just dealt with it. Never experimented either.
When using TWRP to flash a new rom do i have to wipe my internal storage? Does that really ruin the flash? Again, never tried it id just rather ask. Its annoying to transfer my music and large files. Every time i flash a new rom i wipe everything and have to move the 12 gigs of files i enjoy using on my phone pretty often. So if i dont have to wipe them out every time that would be awesome to know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've never wiped my internal storage when flashing a new rom

sakumaxp said:
I've never wiped my internal storage when flashing a new rom
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Click to collapse
+1 never wiped my internal storage

It's definitely not needed to wipe internal storage, nor do I recommend so; at least not every time. Some folks like to wipe it once in a while, to get rid of extraneous folders and files created by some custom ROMs, old (no longer used) apps, etc. Some folks might even do it frequently, but that is just their obsessiveness. But it's definitely not a requirement to do so.
I've flashed dozens and dozens (maybe hundreds) of ROMs on various Android devices over the years. I've never once wiped internal storage when doing so, that I can recall.
Think about it, on this device the internal storage is the only place TWRP can create a backup (since there is no removable SD slot). So if you made a backup before flashing a ROM (which I highly recommend), then wiped internal storage (to flash the ROM) you would be wiping out the backup you just made. Sure, you can copy a TWRP backup to your computer, than move it back to the phone after you wipe. But that is just a lot of hoops to jump through for little reason, and really not how the TWRP backup/restore feature is intended to be used.
If you look at the TWRP wipe screen, the default wipe just consists of user data (apps and settings ... /media is not touched), cache and Dalvik. And it says right there on the screen that most of the time, this is the only wipe you will need. It says that for a reason. Some folks may choose to go above and beyond, but that is just their choice (again, not a requirement).
On the other hand, it is good to routinely backup any files on your internal storage (that are important to you) to an off-phone location like your computer or cloud. Just in case something gets wipe unintentionally. But you can for the most part, save yourself the steps of wiping internal data and moving those files back to your phone every time you flash a ROM.