Completly Wiping the phone - General Questions and Answers

Hey,
I'm selling my phone to some random guy and I'm wondering whats the best way to wipe the phone? I dont really care about the apps , but i care that all the data is erased (passwords, wifi passwords, notes, texts, pictures). All the stuff that I need to keep has already been backed up onto my desktop so now its just a matter of finding the best way to delete everything on the phone, WITHOUT IT BEING ABLE TO GET RESTORED (I.E THROUGH TITANIUM).
What would be the best way to do this?
Thanks.

Factory reset

in recovery:
to wipe your internal memory (which should wipe your settings, passwords, etc), wipe data/factory reset.
to wipe the sdcard (which holds your notes, pictures, etc), you can format it (if you are using clockworkmod, there is an option under "mounts and storage" that allows you to format the sdcard. if you are using another recovery such as amonra, i am not exactly sure if there is such an option; if there isnt an option for this, you can just partition your sdcard into two partitions, and repartition back to one partition).

I remember there were apps that Did zero formatting (I think that's what it was called) for the old Palm Treos.
You might want to do some search. I'm sure someone has thought of it already.

Related

Internal memory not being erased?

I wanted to wipe my phone back to stock, so I did a Factory data reset in the Setting>Power menu. After it completed I connected the phone in disk drive mode, but it still had many of my old app folders in the root.
How can I get rid of these folders and go back to how I got my phone from ATT?
you can flash the RUU thats in the dev forums, it should wipe the phone.
i haven't tried to wipe this phone yet, but on my gnex, iirc, there was an option when you asked it to wipe to remove all personal data as well. i'll have to check for it on my 1x after i finish flashing the new RUU to it.
edit:
i looked again, it's in settings / storage. in there it has options to wipe saved data from the apps partition as well as the sdcard partition, and also the factory wipe.

Titanium Backup Regimens?

Hey everyone-just wondering what your preferred regimen for backups/restores is when using tibu. I backup all modified data for my apps nightly, but I don't really play with user data for the sake of conflicts when flashing between ROMs. Can anyone provide me with some insight as to how to keep as much system data as possible between ROM flashes(ie my email accounts, WiFi access points, some system settings, etc) that arent likely to conflict with other ROMs (so long as they're on the same version of Android)?
Just wondering if there's an optimal backup/restore regimen I'm unaware of.
Thanks guys!
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Subscribed! Same questions have been running through my head.
System data will potentially corrupt your system, from one base (ROM) to the other. Wiping data is necessary to prevent bugs and glitches.
If you are flashing an update to an already installed ROM, you can forgo the data wipe (factory reset), and wipe only: cache, dalvik, and system. This will keep your data intact.
Doing a factory reset on occasion after several flashes, will clean up some potential problems.
Wiping SD card, internal and external, will also help with any potential problems. If wiping SD card you should only have to save media (pix, music, video) and any docs to your PC. Then format card, then add back your media and docs. You should notice better performance.
Wiping data can be necessary, a part of flashing ROMs. As far as TiBu I backup everything. When restoring you have the option to restore data or not. If you are restoring from a different ROM choose to only restore app.
ChillFactorz said:
System data will potentially corrupt your system, from one base (ROM) to the other. Wiping data is necessary to prevent bugs and glitches.
If you are flashing an update to an already installed ROM, you can forgo the data wipe (factory reset), and wipe only: cache, dalvik, and system. This will keep your data intact.
Doing a factory reset on occasion after several flashes, will clean up some potential problems.
Wiping SD card, internal and external, will also help with any potential problems. If wiping SD card you should only have to save media (pix, music, video) and any docs to your PC. Then format card, then add back your media and docs. You should notice better performance.
Wiping data can be necessary, a part of flashing ROMs. As far as TiBu I backup everything. When restoring you have the option to restore data or not. If you are restoring from a different ROM choose to only restore app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I appreciate the reply, but this is all stuff I'm aware of. However if what you're saying is that nobody out there really bothers with restoring any system data from one base to another, then that answers my question and what I'm already doing is the best way to go.
Thanks.
stevenavm said:
Well I appreciate the reply, but this is all stuff I'm aware of. However if what you're saying is that nobody out there really bothers with restoring any system data from one base to another, then that answers my question and what I'm already doing is the best way to go.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No one restores system data unless they want problems.
Sent from my GT-P5113 using Tapatalk 2
Exporting sms and call log is the only thing I've ever need. I was extremely happy the day they added that.
I don't even backup app data anymore. Except for 2 authenticators I use. I prefer to keep as much stuff on cloud storage as possible. I trust my SR and ROM, I just don't trust myself.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727

[Q] Data Wipe Question

I'm wanting to install a custom ROM and I've read when you do so you will need to do a factory wipe before hand. I did a full backup using CWM Touch and it saved to my internal memory card, not external. I also backed up my IMEI using Terminal, which I'm guessing is saved on my internal as well. So If i download a customer ROM and do a factory wipe along with a cache and delvik wipe, won't I loose those backups that I will need in case of an emergency? Can I just move the CWM Touch backup folder to my external or will that cause issues? I'm clueless.
Thanks,
It'll stay on your internal sd card.
Doing a factory wipe basically resets the data partition and caches, erasing all user and app data leaving the phone as a clean slate. However, this will not erase files from your phone. Your backup will be fine on an internal sd, and things like pictures, music, and downloaded files will stay there as well. You're imei backup is actually stored on your boot partition. That's pretty much as safe as it gets unless you hard brick your phone.
I put all my backups on an external so I can always pull them off if something horrible goes wrong. To move them you have to move the entire folder including the backups and blobs. They have to stay together or if you try to restore a nandroid it won't work.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Generl Question about backup and wipe

Hey everybody,
i have bean looking for information about back up and wipe for oneplus one for hours now but i failed to get the answers that i need.
so my questions are:
What is th best way to back up everyrhing on my phone when i am flashing a new room, and by everything i mean apps and their data, pics , music, sms , call logs......etc
My second question, what are the different types of wipe do and what do i need to wipe when flashing a new rom and will it erase everything on my phone ncluding pics and music? and what is exactly considered as internal storage and what does it erase.
Thanks in advance.
monmon238 said:
Hey everybody,
i have bean looking for information about back up and wipe for oneplus one for hours now but i failed to get the answers that i need.
so my questions are:
What is th best way to back up everyrhing on my phone when i am flashing a new room, and by everything i mean apps and their data, pics , music, sms , call logs......etc
My second question, what are the different types of wipe do and what do i need to wipe when flashing a new rom and will it erase everything on my phone ncluding pics and music? and what is exactly considered as internal storage and what does it erase.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way to backup your apps is by using Titanium Backup. It'll backup all of your apps and their data, you need the pro version to backup call logs and messages but it's well worth it because the pro version also allows batch restore (without batch restore you need to individually press ok for each app that you're restoring). Titanium is by far the most important root app that's available. You don't need to backup your personal data (music, photos) on your internal storage because you don't wipe the internal storage when flashing a ROM.
When flashing a new ROM you need to perform what's called a full wipe, this is wiping system, data, cache, and dalvik cache. Using TWRP recovery (the best recovery) you enter the wipe menu from the main menu, then select advanced wipe, and then you can select the previously mentioned partitions to wipe. This does not wipe your internal storage (the user-accessible virtual sd card where all of your personal data resides), wiping the internal storage is never necessary when flashing a ROM.
If you're just updating the same ROM (flashing a newer version/build) you don't need to worry about wiping, you can just flash the zip and reboot. Only ever do this when updating the ROM you're currently using though, never when flashing a different ROM.
Transmitted via Bacon

Stuck in recovery after rom update

Hello,
I just updated the rom Evolution X 11 on my Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro after using an older version for about half a year.
Now my phone does not boot anymore, its stuck in recovery (TWRP). Also all data seems to be encrypted and TWRP is not asking for a password.
Is there a way to get my phone to boot again or at least backup my data before I do a full wipe?
You should always do a full twrp backup before messing with roms.
The best solution would be to backup the "Data" and "Internal Storage" partitions. Data contains all apps, their appdata and settings, while internal storage contains all of your own files (photos, videos etc.). After you back these up, wipe your phone (system, data, cache, dalvik) and flash the version of evolution x you were using previously. Now restore data and internal storage and your device should be back to normal.
If you get a bootloop while booting after restoring data and internal storage, then wipe the device again and this time flash evolution x, but only restore internal storage. This way, it should boot and you will be able to recover your files, though your apps will be gone.
If you only restore internal storage then it will no doubt boot up and you will have access to your files, but since you'll have already backed up the important stuff (data + internal storage), you might as well try restoring data as well, as there is no harm, and if the phone boots correctly after restoring both partitions, your phone will be as it was before your updated your rom.
This happened a while back to me with my J5, the issue was that I made a full TWRP backup, then began to test other roms. After I was done, I tried to restore my backup, but it would constantly fail. I sat down for a while, confused and sad about how my TWRP backup had failed me. I tried every solution I could think of, eventually this solution I've mentioned in the above paragraph came to my mind. Thank god for putting it into my mind, otherwise I would've lost a lot of stuff (mainly whatsapp chats which werent backed up, and a lot of apps which I took the time to pain-stakingly configure in the best way for my device).
Anyways, enough of my story, hope this helps you out! If it does, message back here and let us know, and also mark my post as the solution if it was able to help you, so that anyone else who stumbles upon this thread can be saved too!
Cheers!
PhotonIce said:
You should always do a full twrp backup before messing with roms.
The best solution would be to backup the "Data" and "Internal Storage" partitions. Data contains all apps, their appdata and settings, while internal storage contains all of your own files (photos, videos etc.). After you back these up, wipe your phone (system, data, cache, dalvik) and flash the version of evolution x you were using previously. Now restore data and internal storage and your device should be back to normal.
If you get a bootloop while booting after restoring data and internal storage, then wipe the device again and this time flash evolution x, but only restore internal storage. This way, it should boot and you will be able to recover your files, though your apps will be gone.
If you only restore internal storage then it will no doubt boot up and you will have access to your files, but since you'll have already backed up the important stuff (data + internal storage), you might as well try restoring data as well, as there is no harm, and if the phone boots correctly after restoring both partitions, your phone will be as it was before your updated your rom.
This happened a while back to me with my J5, the issue was that I made a full TWRP backup, then began to test other roms. After I was done, I tried to restore my backup, but it would constantly fail. I sat down for a while, confused and sad about how my TWRP backup had failed me. I tried every solution I could think of, eventually this solution I've mentioned in the above paragraph came to my mind. Thank god for putting it into my mind, otherwise I would've lost a lot of stuff (mainly whatsapp chats which werent backed up, and a lot of apps which I took the time to pain-stakingly configure in the best way for my device).
Anyways, enough of my story, hope this helps you out! If it does, message back here and let us know, and also mark my post as the solution if it was able to help you, so that anyone else who stumbles upon this thread can be saved too!
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your help but backing up the data and internal storage doesnt seem possible right now because all the data is encrypted in TWRP...
If you can't backup anything, then wipe system, cache and dalvik, and flash the version of evolutionx you were previously using. Then boot, it should be fine. If it wont boot (give it some time, it will take the time of a fresh install), then this time wipe system+data+cache+dalvik, then flash whichever rom you like and you'll be able to access the files.
You can also try using platform tools and fastboot or adb ( i dont remember exactly which one) to copy the filess from your phone onto your pc.
Sorry if this doesn't apply to your situation, I've never used a phone which has been encrypted, as such I have no experience with them.
PhotonIce said:
If you can't backup anything, then wipe system, cache and dalvik, and flash the version of evolutionx you were previously using. Then boot, it should be fine. If it wont boot (give it some time, it will take the time of a fresh install), then this time wipe system+data+cache+dalvik, then flash whichever rom you like and you'll be able to access the files.
You can also try using platform tools and fastboot or adb ( i dont remember exactly which one) to copy the filess from your phone onto your pc.
Sorry if this doesn't apply to your situation, I've never used a phone which has been encrypted, as such I have no experience with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That sounds like a good idea. I found the old version on my PC.
Now I just need a way to install it... because twrp cant read the file. I tried with adb sideload but that results in an error for some reason. Flashing Magisk for example with adb sideload is possible.
Edit: Got it to work by using a tool called "Large Address Aware". Now waiting for the results...
PhotonIce said:
If you can't backup anything, then wipe system, cache and dalvik, and flash the version of evolutionx you were previously using. Then boot, it should be fine. If it wont boot (give it some time, it will take the time of a fresh install), then this time wipe system+data+cache+dalvik, then flash whichever rom you like and you'll be able to access the files.
You can also try using platform tools and fastboot or adb ( i dont remember exactly which one) to copy the filess from your phone onto your pc.
Sorry if this doesn't apply to your situation, I've never used a phone which has been encrypted, as such I have no experience with them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This did not help unfortunately... Im still in the same recovery-bootloop and my data is still encrypted.
It's probably still bootlooping as the data partition got modified when you flashed the newer version of evolutionx, and now it will not work with the old one. You can try wiping system+data+cach+dalvik and then flashing any rom of your choice. This will give you access to your internal storage (photos, media etc), but it will remove your apps and their settings. Whatsapp images are stored in the internal storage so you won't need to worry about those.
Again, this is risky, as it may not work (I don't know much about encryption), or you might still not be able to access your files after flashing the new rom. Proceed at your own risk.
PhotonIce said:
It's probably still bootlooping as the data partition got modified when you flashed the newer version of evolutionx, and now it will not work with the old one. You can try wiping system+data+cach+dalvik and then flashing any rom of your choice. This will give you access to your internal storage (photos, media etc), but it will remove your apps and their settings. Whatsapp images are stored in the internal storage so you won't need to worry about those.
Again, this is risky, as it may not work (I don't know much about encryption), or you might still not be able to access your files after flashing the new rom. Proceed at your own risk.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for still helping me out but I already did a full reset yesterday. I did not lose much except for the time setting it all up again.
I still dont really get the point of encrypting all your data if you cant decrypt it even if you know the password...

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