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Factory reset

I did a factory reset and it wiped my internal SD as expected, but it also wiped system files I backed up on my external SD but not my music? Is there a way to store titanium backups so they do not get erased?
Sent from my Infuse. It is what it isn't.

You can sync it to dropbox or drag and drop the file to a computer.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

I figured it out. Doing the factory reset in recovery doesn't wipe internal storage versus doing it from inside the phone does.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA Premium App

You can change where TB stores its backups and move them to the external SD card.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using XDA App

Clean up your phone for the holidays!

I know what your thinking. The Holidays aren't for another 4 months! Yes, but isn't this the time of year that goes by quickest? Shouldn't you have a quick phone for the quickest time of year? Eh, you don't have to get the logic, just the guide.
Section 1: The obvious stuff
1. Uninstall unused apps (Haven't touched an app in 1-2 months? You should consider uninstalling it)
2. Download 99 tools or android assistant (Both good). Clear your cache and history.
(TIP: I don't suggest clearing your cache too often, as typically they make your apps load faster and keeps your phone from always having to access it from the SD/Internal storage.
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Section 2: Anti-virus.
1. If you haven't already, download an antivirus program from the market. Some good ones are Lookout, avast!, or AVG.
2. Virus scan your phone, and set it to do so every morning (like 3-4am).
3. This ensures that your phone is virus and malware free!
Step 3: Clean your home screen
1. Get rid of any icons or widgets you never look at or use. You can always access them from the app drawer.
2. If you want, put in some fresh icons and widgets, this will give you a fresh feel.
3. If you want, you can download a new launcher for more performance and customization. (I reccomend GO Launcher or Launcher Pro)
Section 4: Clean your SD (if applicable)
MAKE SURE YOU READ ALL 6 STEPS BEFORE PERFORMING
1. Move all your apps to the internal phone memory (if you have any on the SD card). You can use 99 toolkit or android assistant for this.
2. Plug your phone into your computer, and enable usb storage mode.
3. Backup your music, pictures, and anything else you want to keep on your sd card.
4. Format your SD card (or just erase everything).
5. Put your music, pictures, and anything else you backed up back on your SD card.
6. You now have a clean SD without a bunch of random folder's apps tend to create over time. (ex. openfient, certain browsers.)
Step 5: Finishing things up.
1. If your phone still seems sluggish or just messy, try factory resetting it. All your music, pictures, and app data are all on your SD card. Backup your apps with titanium backup. YOU WILL LOSE YOUR APPS, BUT IF YOU PUT THEM ON THE SD CARD (after you clean up your sd card) YOU WILL NOT LOSE YOUR APP DATA (levels, settings) AND ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS RE-DOWNLOAD THEM.
2. If your looking for a new look to your phone check out my guide to making you feel like your running ICS.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=31230439#post31230439
I hope you liked my guide, and if you did don't hesitate to click the thanks button. If I am not clear on some parts, or you think I should add something, please tell me.

I know all of these steps however gave thanks for taking the time to help others.

ingenious247 said:
I know all of these steps however gave thanks for taking the time to help others.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks I kinda knew the more experience people would know all this already just the ones who are new to android.

I don't know if this is even a serious question xD but you move all your apps to internal storage because you wanna do a clean-up of these random-created folders or there is more into it ? And also about factory reset, I think you should mention the effects of it for example when you do factory reset you also lose all the settings that you may have modified don't you ?

mojito0 said:
I don't know if this is even a serious question xD but you move all your apps to internal storage because you wanna do a clean-up of these random-created folders or there is more into it ? And also about factory reset, I think you should mention the effects of it for example when you do factory reset you also lose all the settings that you may have modified don't you ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset clears the /system partition, and rebuilds it from the recovery partition, therefore you lose the following:
settings
apps (if not backed up)
homescreen setup
You will NOT lose the following:
Music
Pictures
app data (levels beat, preferences)
contacts (auto backed up to SIM)
and no if you move apps to internal storage, you will not lose anything upon SD format
Thanks for your feedback I will make that more clear in my guide

Factory reset from the settings menu will erase everything on the internal sd, including pictures and music.
Sent from the current Heavyweight Champ Galaxy SIII

ingenious247 said:
Factory reset from the settings menu will erase everything on the internal sd, including pictures and music.
Sent from the current Heavyweight Champ Galaxy SIII
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you do not have an SD, yes it will erase those things, but if you have an SD then unless you tick "erase SD contents" while factory resetting, it will not erase those things.

Thanks

jBL.Qc said:
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No problem glad you found this helpful

Thanks.

Yoyomah20 said:
Factory reset clears the /system partition, and rebuilds it from the recovery partition, therefore you lose the following:
settings
apps (if not backed up)
homescreen setup
You will NOT lose the following:
Music
Pictures
app data (levels beat, preferences)
contacts (auto backed up to SIM)
and no if you move apps to internal storage, you will not lose anything upon SD format
Thanks for your feedback I will make that more clear in my guide
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually. Factory reset wipes everything except for the system partition. It wipes the data and cache partitions.
Unless you have a phone that has a hidden backup partition, which I am unaware of such device, any modifications you have made in the system partition will stay untouched during a reset.
Sent from my SPH-D710 using xda premium

Help please...

I'm going to factory reset my note 2. I backed up my nova launcher settings but now what do I do? How do I get nova launcher settings back after I restore? Never done this crap before
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 2

Either take the backup file, or use something like Titanium Backup to backup the whole app.
You just need to make sure the file is saved in a place that won't be erased when you reset - so you could put it on your computer and then move it back.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

What I do is backup my apps and data with titanium backup and then backup launcher and widgets and all the apps on my screens. After getting a new ROM or a factory reset restore apps and data from titanium backup and then do the nova restore and all will "poof" appear. I make a copy of the nova backup on my ext SD and copy it back over to internal if lost from reset.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

[Q] ABSOLUTELY screwed myself. How did this happen? [TWRP]

So I decided to go from Cataclysm to Dirty Unicorn ROM. I used to swap roms constantly and retain all data between swaps but it'd been a long while and I was out of practice.
I rebooted to recovery and was about to selectively wipe /system, /data, cache and dalvik but saw on the default wipe screen that i could just wipe data cache and dalvik in one go by swiping to confirm. So I did becasue I was reassured on the same screen:
Wipes Data, Cache, and Dalvik
(not including internal storage)
Most of the time this is the only wipe you need
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So i thought, "Great, let's do this one and I won't wipe all the photos i've taken of my first born since the day she was born."
I was wrong. Everything got wiped from internal storage.
what the actual F. What exactly happened? I know its my own fault but what technically am I missing?
----
EDIT: A restore brought everything back. My pics and all. Who knew that the sdcard contents was included in a nandroid - not me. Still though. WTF.

scirio said:
So I decided to go from Cataclysm to Dirty Unicorn ROM. I used to swap roms constantly and retain all data between swaps but it'd been a long while and I was out of practice.
I rebooted to recovery and was about to selectively wipe /system, /data, cache and dalvik but saw on the default wipe screen that i could just wipe data cache and dalvik in one go by swiping to confirm. So I did becasue I was reassured on the same screen:
So i thought, "Great, let's do this one and I won't wipe all the photos i've taken of my first born since the day she was born."
I was wrong. Everything got wiped from internal storage.
what the actual F. What exactly happened? I know its my own fault but what technically am I missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first.. questions do not go in the general section, they go in q&a. thats where you should post to find out if youre screwed.
secondly, you want to press that advanced wipe menu button, and then pick what exactly you want to get wiped.

scirio said:
So I decided to go from Cataclysm to Dirty Unicorn ROM. I used to swap roms constantly and retain all data between swaps but it'd been a long while and I was out of practice.
I rebooted to recovery and was about to selectively wipe /system, /data, cache and dalvik but saw on the default wipe screen that i could just wipe data cache and dalvik in one go by swiping to confirm. So I did becasue I was reassured on the same screen:
So i thought, "Great, let's do this one and I won't wipe all the photos i've taken of my first born since the day she was born."
I was wrong. Everything got wiped from internal storage.
what the actual F. What exactly happened? I know its my own fault but what technically am I missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It never wiped the internal storage with the 100+ times I've used it.

simms22 said:
first.. questions do not go in the general section, they go in q&a. thats where you should post to find out if youre screwed.
secondly, you want to press that advanced wipe menu button, and then pick what exactly you want to get wiped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can this be moved?
And yeah that's exactly what I typically do (advanced wipe) but dunno, just went with this for some reason. i felt secure when it told me internal storage would remain intact. is scard not in "internal storage"?
I backed up before teh swap and just finished restoring and everything came back! But even that shocked me because I didn't realize my backups were backing up my sdcard. I am very confused. I'm not new at this i swear
Letharqy said:
It never wiped the internal storage with the 100+ times I've used it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right. I figured I was safe.

scirio said:
Can this be moved?
And yeah that's exactly what I typically do (advanced wipe) but dunno, just went with this for some reason. i felt secure when it told me internal storage would remain intact. is scard not in "internal storage"?
I backed up before teh swap and just finished restoring and everything came back! But even that shocked me because I didn't realize my backups were backing up my sdcard. I am very confused. I'm not new at this i swear
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its moved by a mod already
---------- Post added at 06:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 PM ----------
scirio said:
Can this be moved?
And yeah that's exactly what I typically do (advanced wipe) but dunno, just went with this for some reason. i felt secure when it told me internal storage would remain intact. is scard not in "internal storage"?
I backed up before teh swap and just finished restoring and everything came back! But even that shocked me because I didn't realize my backups were backing up my sdcard. I am very confused. I'm not new at this i swear
Right. I figured I was safe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just as you can chose what you want backed up into your backup

scirio said:
I backed up before teh swap and just finished restoring and everything came back!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I'm glad you got the photos back.
2. Please learn from this. Back up your photos. If they're as important as newborn pics, use redundant backups. Let Google upload them to the cloud automatically. Manually upload them to another cloud. Put them on an HDD. Your phone could fall and shatter in a million itty bitty pieces at any moment. You could lose it. Drop it in water. Accidentally erase internal storage when switching ROMs. Stuff happens. Those are precious memories. Make sure you keep the pictures that remind you of them.

Johmama said:
1. I'm glad you got the photos back.
2. Please learn from this. Back up your photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're so right. They're on google plus but they're not the original quality. videos especially, i think they get scaled down to 720.
I may have completely panicked way too much. When I connect to the Android File Transfer app on desktop I see no files. But when I open, say, Solid Explorer on the Nexus i still see everything. So maybe the filesystem is mapped differently in this rom? Can anybody shed light on that?

scirio said:
You're so right. They're on google plus but they're not the original quality. videos especially, i think they get scaled down to 720.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's actually a good point I didn't realize. Thanks for the info.
scirio said:
I may have completely panicked way too much. When I connect to the Android File Transfer app on desktop I see no files. But when I open, say, Solid Explorer on the Nexus i still see everything. So maybe the filesystem is mapped differently in this rom? Can anybody shed light on that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what the Android File Transfer application is, can't help you use that. It should be simpler than that. Can you see your phone with Windows Explorer when you plug it in? Just go to Computer\Nexus 5\Internal storage\DCIM\ and everything should be in there. Specifically, in the Camera folder for anything captured with your camera - both pictures and videos.

scirio said:
EDIT: A restore brought everything back. My pics and all. Who knew that the sdcard contents was included in a nandroid - not me. Still though. WTF.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it wiped your sdcard. I don't think the Nandroid restored it either. Maybe it did something like change the mount point or something which was changed back when you restored.
Unless you're saying that ONLY your photos were wiped and restore?
...because if you think about it logically, if you have filled 9 GB of your 11.35 GB sdcard with data, where would that backup go? You certainly can't fit 9 GB of data and 9GB of backup on a 11 GB partition...in fact, a Nandroid backup is at least 2.5 GB anyway, with high compression. To be able to backup your Rom, data and sdcard onto your sdcard, the maximum used space on your sdcard you could have is maybe 4 GB
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

rootSU said:
I don't think it wiped your sdcard. I don't think the Nandroid restored it either. Maybe it did something like change the mount point or something which was changed back when you restored.
Unless you're saying that ONLY your photos were wiped and restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, I think the mount point is what changed, sending me in to a panic. Android File Transfer (AFT) is the application required to browse the sdcard from OS X.
Alternatively, I can run my windows vm to browse it directly in Windows Explorer, and in fact sometimes I do but it's a bit heavy for just reading the card. After some time (re-indexing?) the files showed up in AFT.

You were safe the whole time. It wiped what it said. Next time just read twrp log. It will show what it deletes and you can figure out what happens.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Just want to add that you can choose whether the photos that are backed up to G+/Drive are compressed or are the original image.
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[Q] Clone all data to another NEXUS 5

I want to clone ALL data from one to another NEXUS 5 (OS+app+data+root permission). So basically I wanted to take snapshot of phone memory and transfer it to another phone. The one which I use is rooted and has omni ROM. I would like to know if this is possible and how?

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Do nandroid backup on your current phone and pull it down to your desktop. Flash a custom recovery to the new phone, push the nandroid backup files to the new phone and restore.

daewond3r said:
Do nandroid backup on your current phone and pull it down to your desktop. Flash a custom recovery to the new phone, push the nandroid backup files to the new phone and restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is it possible to do it without flashing a custom recovery to a new phone? Somehow like taking a image of phone memory and drop it to new phone?

DTFuser said:
Is it possible to do it without flashing a custom recovery to a new phone? Somehow like taking a image of phone memory and drop it to new phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. You need to have a custom recovery installed in the device on which you're going to restore.
Make sure you don't restore the EFS partition as it will mess up the IMEI and other things.

you can run custom recovery without installing, or just install the original recovery afterwards
twrp caught me out when I thought backing up data would backup the whole user data partition, but it missed out the sdcard and obb sections.. which annoyed me, guess I shouldn't of presumed..doh

Indeed, you cannot backup /sdcard via a Nandroid backup because it saves the backup on the /sdcard
In order for that to be feasible, your kernel, ROM, data and sdcard combined must be smaller than the free space on the sdcard.. In other words, you couldn't even half fill your sdcard
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

you can save to USB otg.. I used an externaly powered 3.5" PC drive, formatted to fat32.. a bit overkill but it worked

rootSU said:
Indeed, you cannot backup /sdcard via a Nandroid backup because it saves the backup on the /sdcard
In order for that to be feasible, your kernel, ROM, data and sdcard combined must be smaller than the free space on the sdcard.. In other words, you couldn't even half fill your sdcard
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So just to clear that out. If I had enough space on sdcard or on external drive via USB otg I CAN clone all data from one to another phone with use of Nandroid.
But still I need to root new phone and put custom ROM on it. That step is not possible to avoid?
Even with use of ADB that step is not possible to avoid?

DTFuser said:
So just to clear that out. If I had enough space on sdcard or on external drive via USB otg I CAN clone all data from
Click to expand...
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No, I'm saying it is not possible to back up your sdcard in a nandroid for the reasons mentioned. You can backup system, data and boot to sdcard, then move sdcard to PC
DTFuser said:
But still I need to root new phone and put custom ROM on it. That step is not possible to avoid?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Custom recovery yes. Root, no. You root AFTER installing a recovery
DTFuser said:
Even with use of ADB that step is not possible to avoid?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
adb would need root access to the device, which stock recovery hasn't got.

meangreenie said:
you can run custom recovery without installing, or just install the original recovery afterwards
twrp caught me out when I thought backing up data would backup the whole user data partition, but it missed out the sdcard and obb sections.. which annoyed me, guess I shouldn't of presumed..doh
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What is obb section?

DTFuser said:
What is obb section?
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Click to collapse
Its on the sdcard. Some games use obb files

119
On my new phone I will put up to date TWRP which differs from one on my old phone, which is 2.6.3.4. The image which I plan to flash has boot and recovery partition included. Would that be a problem because of different version of TWRP on my two phones?

EFS is easy to set with TWR. Even if the original has it you can decide not to copy it on the other. As a rule Twr don't copy EFS and I've had to set it just to copy that when I've wanted it for back up
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