A few questions:
1. Are they the same? Hard reset / reformatting Nexus S?
2. Settings -> Privacy -> Factory Data Reset (this is only to erase the usb storage / revert settings back to its original default, right? is there like.. any way to "reformat" Nexus S? just like windows )
I know it's probably a weird question, but I'm just wondering. Or will locking and unlocking the bootloader = same as reformatting?
Also, I read somewhere that to "reformat" we need to wipe cache, dalvik cache, wipe data (factory reset) from the Recovery option. Is this true? Will this remove google apps (youtube, mail, gtalk, etc) as well?
And will "reformatting" affect the speed of the phone? Since in Windows, a reformatted pc would be much faster than an old one
Some clarification would be nice
if you know how to use fastboot, then
doing a fastboot oem unlock will wipe everything and even format ur sd card completely.
after that u can fastboot oem lock back.
1. Hard reset is like restarting your phone from scratch.
2. Wipes your settings / apps but doesn't delete your sdcard.
3. Reformat... not sure why you would do that. Only reason to do that is to flash ROMs. ROMs will put your gapps back, only exception is CM7.. you have to flash a additional flashable zip afterwards to get gapps back.
if the phone starts to become sluggish.. wipe cache and dalvik (only those two) and it'll be fine. nothing will be lost, just the cache but it'll rebuild it when android is starting up for the first time
Thanks for the replies.
A little off topic but I figured instead of creating a new thread I'd just ask here:
If my phone has 2.3.4 version already and I reflashed the 2.3.4 update from google manually, what'll happen? is it like the same as reformatting?
Related
I posted this on rootzwiki a couple of days ago and have had absolutely no takers, so I'm posting it here (not sure who has a bigger active community).
Hi all, I have a question about the Dalvik cache:
I found this definition of what the Dalvik cache is:
http://www.shahz.net...lvik-cache.html
But...
I see this as an answer very often on all forums for all ROMs: wipe the dalvik cache, fixes everything. But why should we have to do this? Is android so broken as an OS that it can't manage its own cache properly? If I understand correctly, the dalvik cache is not something that is unique to custom ROMs, it's something that Google developed as part of the native android OS. Why would they develop something that needs to be micromanaged like this into an OS that is used by techies and non-techies alike across the world? If I understand correctly also, you can't even wipe the dalvik cache if you're not rooted. The majority of android devices running in the wild are NOT rooted, and I don't think Google intended android to be run rooted. So I can't imagine they'd ever intend anyone to have to wipe the dalvik cache in the first place.
That being said, it appears that wiping the dalvik cache does fix some issues for some people. maybe not the root cause of the issue, but at least the symptoms. so, is there an app that will automatically wipe the dalvik cache in the background at regular intervals so that you never have to do it yourself?
Thanks!
the wipe-dalvik-cache things is a long and old story that not true anymore. as some CM dev said, the cache got invalid after you flash a new ROM and the OS will recreate automatically.
Even if you have to wipe, it's not Android fault, why are you flash ROM from the start? My friend have a LG P500, she never root it, never know what recovery or flash is, the OS is not broken, it's your fault to hack it, and if you love to hack, learn to live with it.
Please understand, I'm not bashing android (trust me, I'm an avid android fan), I just want to understand why this is the first answer people give when others are having issues.
What I don't understand or agree with is the fact that people seem to indiscriminately resort to wiping the dalvik cache as a FIRST resort. It's like telling someone to reinstall their OS everytime they have an issue (yeah I know, it's not as much work, but you get my meaning). Well, no **** a total reinstall will probably fix it, but I'd rather not have to do it. I want to know what the root cause is and try to prevent it in the future.
So is wiping the dalvik cache something that people do on a regular basis? Or is it usually just a one-time fix for certain issues? Or something you do only once when flashing a new ROM? Or like you say, is it not even a valid fix anymore?
Funnnny said:
it's your fault to hack it, and if you love to hack, learn to live with it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So are you implying that the "need" to wipe the dalvik cache is directly related to "hacking" (i assume you mean rooting/flashing) your device?
My wife and I both have the same phone, Droid X. She is running stock unrooted ROM, and I am the "tinkerer" who likes to try different ROMs. I've only tried 2 ROMs so far and I don't plan to flash anymore (currently using Vortex 2.9, which is not too far from stock). I notice that both of our phones have issues with random reboots, among other things, so I don't think the issues I'm having are directly related to my phone being flashed and rooted, since hers is not and she's having the same issues. I'm thinking this is something with android itself, or with certain apps. Should I root her phone too and try wiping the dalvik cache? Does the dalvik cache get rebuilt everytime you reboot your phone? I just want to understand.
And it would be nice to hear from someone who is an actual developer who understands the inner workings of android, rather than a "hacker" like me who only has anecdotal evidence to share.
Thanks!
Very good, logical nad brief answer found here:
http://www.shahz.net/android/what-is-dalvik-cache.html
According to the article, it should be safe to delete. Has anysone tried it?
It makes sense that it sould be wiped if you install/uninstall a lot of apps, since their classes.dex will be in cache and probably remain there.
Can anyone shed a light?
The Dalvik Cache is completely safe to wipe. You will only find this as an available option if you have installed CWM on your Android Device.
Think of it sort of as you would think of the Windows Temp Folder in Windows. It is completely fine to Wipe the Windows Temp folder, and in some cases, completely necessary to resolve an issue.
The same is true with the Dalvik Cache. When an APK is launched, it is extracted to the Dalvik Cache and run from there. It is a temporary file location.
The reason for clearing the Dalvik Cache after flashing a new ROM, is to clean up the Cache so that no temp files from the previous ROM Build are in there as clutter. There are some instances in which an App might not function or authenticate properly after flashng to a new ROM because some of the temp files in the Dalvik Cache are used, rather than a fresh copy that was extracted after the new build was installed on the device.
There is much more to the Dalvik Cache than I have described in this post, but what I have mentioned is a basic overview of the major functionality of the Dalvik Cache.
Cheers!
Great, so who knows where to find an app that auto deletes that meddling troublesome dalvik folder? I believe it is the culprit responsible for not allowing the phone at reboot to find a signal
You can only wipe the dalvik cache from recovery. For an apk to work it first has to be pushed onto the cache, so it can't delete the folder the apk itself is using.
syung said:
You can only wipe the dalvik cache from recovery. For an apk to work it first has to be pushed onto the cache, so it can't delete the folder the apk itself is using.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true. Titanium backup can delete the dalvik cache. You can also delete dalvik cache folder manually using a root file explorer.
However when you delete the dalvik cache it will rebuild itself upon the next boot.
Dalvik who?
So, can anyone really explain to me what the dalvik cache does, exactly?
It takes about 2.8 GB of my internal memory and i'm about to run out of free space. Is there a limit of dalvik-cache or will it grow bigger till forever?
Now I have Dalvik Cache folder with 3.13 GB in my Galaxy S4. Is its size unlimited and constantly growing?
Can I safely wipe it using TWRP?
clearing dalvik cache without root
pchoi94 said:
If I understand correctly also, you can't even wipe the dalvik cache if you're not rooted. The majority of android devices running in the wild are NOT rooted, and I don't think Google intended android to be run rooted. So I can't imagine they'd ever intend anyone to have to wipe the dalvik cache in the first place.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can clear dalvik cache with stock recovery, just boot into recovery (the sequence varies for different phones), then choose the option that says "wipe dalvik cache" or "clear dalvik cache" or something like that. I don't remember how it's worded, but the option is there. On my phone it's the second option right below factory reset. I am curious whether it's safe to clear without root & with the factory ROM. I'm running low on storage, & thought of that as a way to recover some space. Is that safe & will it benefit me any?
Is a factory reset enough when selling a phone? Many used phones on websites like craigslist.
I wonder how much these people care about data?
I have been able to retrieve data that is years old from hard drives with very simple programs. Most enthusiasts will tell you reformatting is not enough. A 3 pass method is what will do the trick.
But what about on a smartphone? Is there such a way to write over the storage with 0's ?
How many here believe a factory reset is enough?
no way
factory reset
format your sd card if any
And also full format your Internal card also...dats it.
I'd like to hear what others have to say. I really don't think that's a very secure method.
If you have a ClockworkMod recovery for your device, try flashing a custom rom + wipe the cache and Dalvik cache.
Sent from my Grand X Pro using xda premium
Stock ROM + erase all data = new phone :
RaZ0R4334 said:
Stock ROM + erase all data = new phone :
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it isn't. Any data on the internal system can be recovered as it is not possible to carry out a multi write on it. There was a puritan around a while ago that claimed to do multi pass wipe of files but it disappeared about a year ago, can't even remember what it was called now.
Your average user won't be able to recover anything after a full wrote and reinstall - factory reset is no good - but a forensics expert can do so easily.
if the original soft it is better to delete yourself what you can do then wipe with recovery and check because it's important.
Non-critical, just an observation that I am looking for additional information on.
I purchased a 32g S3 phone from someone that already updated to CM10.2. It looked like the seller reset something (no apps, data, phone started in initial setup mode), but there was obviously a lot of trash left over on internal storage that I wanted to clear away.
After clearing everything away, and downloading several apps to help remove more, I found that the internal storage was still >50% utilized. Even digging around in the root file system, I was still at a loss to figure out where more than 12gb was being consumed.
I tried a factory reset in clockworkmod, clear cache, etc. I did not dive into formatting partitions. On restart, I still see >50% consumed space and temp folders left around in the user data /sdcard area.
Out of curiosity I tried the factory reset from the CM10 system menu. After rebooting phone, it seems like all storage was properly cleaned up with about 26gb of 32g free; significant improvement.
So, there is clearly something different between a CWM factory reset and a CM10 factory reset. For the latter, it looks like the whole user-data area was formatted and repopulated with necessary folders/files. I suspect my “lost” space was somewhere in root….
I am just curious to know what more the CM10 system factory reset is doing above what the bootloader is trying to do.
Thanks!
When you do a Factory Reset in recovery (I use TWRP so it may be phrased different in CWM) it is intentional that this option does not wipe /sdcard (internal storage). You have to choose to wipe internal storage (in TWRP it's called Formatting data") by going into that Format menu to wipe all of your data from the phone. If a factory reset wiped internal storage, then there would be an incredible amount of angry people who lost important files like pics and videos. The option is there in custom recovery, it's just buried so that when you find it, you intend to use it on purpose and not by accident.
Edit: Factory reset is literally clearing cache, dalvik cache, and the rom from your phone. If you boot it up without installing a rom then your phone won't do anything cuz it's without an OS.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 4
SlimSnoopOS said:
Edit: Factory reset is literally clearing cache, dalvik cache, and the rom from your phone. If you boot it up without installing a rom then your phone won't do anything cuz it's without an OS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And the 'system' partition in 'data'.
But all that other crap apps plunk on your internal memory remains, unless you do a 'system wipe' from TWRP or CWM. But that will delete everything on the internal memory. That's what I'd do if I were giving my device away... though I tend to just Odin/RSD/CAB back to stock (depending on the device) for best results.
I have just recently rooted my old Kindle Fire HD 2012 7" model and after making a backup before getting android on it, I wiped it due to slow performance and only 21mb of data remaining.
When I was greeted with the setup screen I got to the " Choose a wifi network " screen and was confused to find that it said that there were no nearby wifi networks to connect to. I knew
something was up with the device because on all my other devices, the wifi was working just fine. I skipped the setup and tried getting wifi but saw that tapping the wifi on button was greyed out
for an unknown reason. Also, I did this all on the kindle without a computer. I'm very new to rooting kindles and android devices and to these forums so could someone please help me resolve this issue?
MSD615 said:
I have just recently rooted my old Kindle Fire HD 2012 7" model and after making a backup before getting android on it, I wiped it due to slow performance and only 21mb of data remaining.
When I was greeted with the setup screen I got to the " Choose a wifi network " screen and was confused to find that it said that there were no nearby wifi networks to connect to. I knew
something was up with the device because on all my other devices, the wifi was working just fine. I skipped the setup and tried getting wifi but saw that tapping the wifi on button was greyed out
for an unknown reason. Also, I did this all on the kindle without a computer. I'm very new to rooting kindles and android devices and to these forums so could someone please help me resolve this issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boot to TWRP and choose the advanced wipes, then select cache partition and Dalvik/ART cache, do not select any other partitions listed. Then swipe the slider at the bottom, let it finish wiping then reboot the device.
***NOTE***Do not factory reset, that's not what you want. It would work also but it will wipe your user data and settings, you only want to wipe the cache partitions. Wiping just Dalvik/ART cache would probably fix it but for safe measure, wipe the regular cache also. You will not lose any data doing this, it only clears cache so that when you reboot it loads all your apps from a fresh start with no cached data from things that aren't there anymore.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Droidriven said:
Boot to TWRP and choose the advanced wipes, then select cache partition and Dalvik/ART cache, do not select any other partitions listed. Then swipe the slider at the bottom, let it finish wiping then reboot the device.
***NOTE***Do not factory reset, that's not what you want. It would work also but it will wipe your user data and settings, you only want to wipe the cache partitions. Wiping just Dalvik/ART cache would probably fix it but for safe measure, wipe the regular cache also. You will not lose any data doing this, it only clears cache so that when you reboot it loads all your apps from a fresh start with no cached data from things that aren't there anymore.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed your instructions but the wifi is still greyed out. I should also mention that I may have messed something up before making this thread, I made the mistake of doing the equivalent of picking at a wound by clearing everything ( the dalvik cache, data, internal storage, cache, and system ) however I did restore the system from a backup but I couldn't restore the data because the backup failed previously.
MSD615 said:
I followed your instructions but the wifi is still greyed out. I should also mention that I may have messed something up before making this thread, I made the mistake of doing the equivalent of picking at a wound by clearing everything ( the dalvik cache, data, internal storage, cache, and system ) however I did restore the system from a backup but I couldn't restore the data because the backup failed previously.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you messed something up before this then you need to take your question/issue to the Kindle Fire HD forum here. The Kindle forum here covers different models of kindle so make sure you're getting the right information for your specific version of kindle.
Sent from my SM-S903VL using Tapatalk
Hi everyone. so my android phone is a midrange oppo. so I recently saw I was getting really bad performance . so I did a reset. and out of habit I remove my SIM and SD card
now when I restarted back to my clean UI. I was sent an SMS asking me to pickup my package and had a .IR country. which is wrong for me.
so I concluded I was infected with some pretty full on malware. because without a sim it still sent me a fake SMS. which means its in there.
So how can I do a full format to get rid of it? I tried the encrypt and reset to all factory but it still did it.
Any ideas. ?
can I d/l the full OS from Oppo and do a full wipe manually. or do I restart to the root mode and clear the delvic cache etc and try that?
interested on your thoughts... or should I burn the phone LOL
Clearing Dalvik Cache will only help you if you have serious problems with an app and all other solutions have failed. Take note that if Dalvik Cache gets wiped then when the Android smartphone is restarted, the Dalvik Cache is rebuilt.
FYI:
The Dalvik Cache contains - simply put - the directory tree of all installed apps on your Android.
This is comparable to the MFT (Master File Table) of Windows.
In addition, the Dalvik Cache serves as a temporary buffer for apps that require a lot of resources.
so what should I do. is there a way I can wipe the phone to nothing then reinstall it from my PC via a program or something?