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[Q] Clockwork and wiping data question...

Ok simple question I know but its in not easy to get a DEFINITIVE answer for (yes I have searched). When the time comes for me to install a custom ROM to my beloved Nexus S, it is highly recommended to do a full system wipe....fine, but does this leave my precious SD saved files intact or is it literally a nuclear option wipe? Apologies for this simplistic question but I prefer caution to bravery

You're forced into it anyway, unlocking the phone wipes it.

Rusty! said:
You're forced into it anyway, unlocking the phone wipes it.
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Thanks for that, I am unlocked and rooted, did that the day I got it and realised that procedure would kill the SD card. Does the same apply to, for example, loading cyanogen off rom manager? I mean would my nandroid backup of my current rom still be in the Clockwork backup folder on the SD card after a wipe? (I got it saved to my laptop anyway) Thanks

It leaves your sd contents intact. The wipe just clears out everything for the operating system like your apps. Just always make a backup to pc just in case.

Very good, thank you for the advice. I will backup all possible things and all will be fine. I worried that with the SD card being internal on the Nexus S that it made a wipe that much more complete!

willcpfc said:
Very good, thank you for the advice. I will backup all possible things and all will be fine. I worried that with the SD card being internal on the Nexus S that it made a wipe that much more complete!
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Since you're rooted I suggest you get Titanium backup. Go for the paid version, it makes restoring everything much easier.

icandy75 said:
Since you're rooted I suggest you get Titanium backup. Go for the paid version, it makes restoring everything much easier.
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Got it I do titanium backup's, Nandroid backups with Clockwork, and just for completeness save the lot to the laptop....I should pop it all on a memory stick just in case my laptop packs up! Where others boldly go......I follow behind with caution

That's actually quite funny. So far I have yet to have an issue with my NS wiping SD card so I would say you SHOULD be safe. I did however loose EVERYTHING twice when testing different roms and kernels with my Vibrant so now like yourself I backup EVERYTHING. When restoring with Ti I suggest you only restore you apps and not full system. That has been known to cause issues.

Agreed. Titanium for apps only. I guess it would not be the end of the world to lose everything but it would be a hell of a job to put it all back how it used to be......and that scares me man!! And thanks for the advice to my reassuring but simple questions.

If you have Titanium Pro, you can also backup to dropbox so you always have it with you on the go. Well, sort of anyways.

Internal Memory Issue

I recently was getting the low internal memory msgs. So I went through and got rid off all the crap apps that I don't really use. Then I went and used Titanium to get rid of a lot of bloatware. I was back up to around 100mb of internal storage.
Then I flashed AntonX's SGS4G kernel with a twist (include Voodoo lagfix, BLN, among others. I'm pretty sure it was right after I flashed this kernel I was literally right back to having low memory. Is this normal? Is there a way to free up more internal mem, besides just deleting apk's and bloatware? Also I recently tried to flash a ROM and it came back with an error could that be because of the lack of memory?
Thanks in advance for any help!
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

Stock rom with custom kernel?
You can move apps to the sdcard from manage apps then select sdcard/usb storage. There should be boxes that you can check and it will give the option to move to sdcard. Move as many apps as possible however apps that have widgets, the widget will not function properly if at all.
If you are wiping the partitions like you are suppose to then a custom rom will install. There is a chance you have a bad download tho that will give errors.

eollie said:
Stock rom with custom kernel?
You can move apps to the sdcard from manage apps then select sdcard/usb storage. There should be boxes that you can check and it will give the option to move to sdcard. Move as many apps as possible however apps that have widgets, the widget will not function properly if at all.
If you are wiping the partitions like you are suppose to then a custom rom will install. There is a chance you have a bad download tho that will give errors.
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Yea, just about ask my apps were moved to the SD card. I'm just kind of an app junkie and had a huge collection. So I still got low mem warnings.
Although I am still a "noob" to this, so no I didn't know to wipe partitions. Could you explain how to do that, or point me to a thread that will? Thanks man.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

Do you really need all the apps? I mean do you use them enough daily/weekly to warrant keeping them installed? If not use something like Titanium Backup to install and remove them when you need them.
As for wiping the caches, I suggest doing some searching and reading before doing this. I can explain it but honestly you need to learn it from reading. Because my explanation will not be as informative. If you have no understanding of what your doing and why then it wont make sense.

eollie said:
Do you really need all the apps? I mean do you use them enough daily/weekly to warrant keeping them installed? If not use something like Titanium Backup to install and remove them when you need them.
As for wiping the caches, I suggest doing some searching and reading before doing this. I can explain it but honestly you need to learn it from reading. Because my explanation will not be as informative. If you have no understanding of what your doing and why then it wont make sense.
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No, you're right I really don't have a need for ALL the apps. So that's what I did I got Titanium and just backed up the non-essential apps, the uninstalled them.
As for the wiping caches, I have an idea of what I'm doing. I'm learning. I will do some more research on it then. Quick question though, is it done through CWM with the option, "wipe cache" or is it more complicated than that?
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda premium

Use titanium backup. There is a function under batch operations. Clear all user and system cache. It will free space and help keep your system in tip top shape. I usually do it once a week. It is normal for your status bar and network your disconnect. It will come back a minute after the batch finishes.
Sent from my SGH-T959V using xda app-developers app

AOKP M6.4 OS : Link2SD app won't let me create script. Any ideas? I created partition back when I was on GB but it worked before on ICS. Something just doesn't seem right...
sent from The Backwoods in South Texas

[Q] What to keep on internal

Hello Everyone, I have a fairly simple question, I have done searching but have not found a sufficient answer to my question. It is possible I overlooked it so if so I apologize. I want to format my internal SD. I have never done it before and have a billion folders and what not and it bugs me to see them all. So I actually have two questions.
What folders do I NEED to keep on here
Best way to format
I am running Sky jellybean 4.1.2 and as for my recovery it is CWMR Touch v6.0.0.7 by sk8erwitskil

In my experience, I move all my pics and music to external, then backup my appa with Titanium Backup.
In TiBU, I have it configured to back up apps and app data to external as well.
Then when I wanna try a new ROM, I wipe everything, including internal, load the ROM and restore from TiBU.
Never an issue.
To more directly answer your question, much of your installed app data is there, and you'll likely hose them by clearing out the drive.
If its not causing a problem for you and you're not out of space, leave it be. Otherwise, do a backup, nandroid, and wipe it and see what happens. Format in Windows as a fat32 drive.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda app-developers app

[Q] Titanium Backup SD Card Question

I'm a little new to rooting and this is my 2nd device that I have rooted and first without an external Sd card. I currently have the ViperXL rom on my HTC One X and I want to try a AOSP Rom. I backed up everything with Titanium Backup but what I was wondering is when I factory reset my phone won't the backup get wiped too? I'm sorry if this is a noob question but I don't want to advance without confirming this because i need to know if I have to copy my backup over to my computer. And I think that the backup is in the SD Card, which i'm not entirely sure about. So also does the SD card get wiped? I'm sorry if this question has been asked already and I will delete this thread if anyone asks.

Factory reset from recovery doesn't touch your "sd card" at all. All of your stuff on your sd card will be fine, including your backups.
However, factory reset from bootloader will completely bork your sd card, and it would need to be formatted to be usable again. So, don't ever factory reset from bootloader.
Hope this helps.
Sent from my Evita

Its a fair question, since it is a little confusing that the "SD card" is not a distinct card per se, but a partition on a larger flash memory chip. But as mentioned above, it will not get wiped unless you specifically select the option in recovery to wipe the SD card.
Also, there is the rare event of some files on the SD being corrupted when flashing ROMs. Its happened to me and others in the past. So its not a bad idea to make a copy of your Titanium Backup folder on your computer "just in case".

Thanks
redpoint73 said:
Its a fair question, since it is a little confusing that the "SD card" is not a distinct card per se, but a partition on a larger flash memory chip. But as mentioned above, it will not get wiped unless you specifically select the option in recovery to wipe the SD card.
Also, there is the rare event of some files on the SD being corrupted when flashing ROMs. Its happened to me and others in the past. So its not a bad idea to make a copy of your Titanium Backup folder on your computer "just in case".
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timmaaa said:
Factory reset from recovery doesn't touch your "sd card" at all. All of your stuff on your sd card will be fine, including your backups.
However, factory reset from bootloader will completely bork your sd card, and it would need to be formatted to be usable again. So, don't ever factory reset from bootloader.
Hope this helps.
Sent from my Evita
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Thanks to both of you guys and thanks Redpoint for that one message you sent me on the at&t website that the One X WAS rootable. You helped me alot.:laugh:

Another Titanium Backup Question
Hey guys I know that this isn't the same question that my topic asks but I have another problem. I used titanium Backup and saved everything in my ViperXL rom for my HTC One X Att. Then i switched to a Sense 5 rom and whenever i try to restore my data my phone seems to freeze and when i reboot it doesn't show any applications or anything. It says that the titanium backup is restored but it doesn't show anything except a notification in the status bar saying a reboot is recommended. So then I go and reboot and the only thing i can do is access the apps in my lockscreen. When i boot up and try to open the app drawer nothing is in it and there is only blinkfeed and my other screen nothing seems to work. I know that i should post this in the Rom Thread and i would but as a junior member with only 8 posts including this one i can't post in Android Development yet. The link for the thread with the rom is here in case anyone wants to know what rom i'm trying this on and my backup is made from a viperxl rom. If anyone needs more details i can provide more. And on a side note whenever i factory reset it takes me back to the rom and it is working but none of my apps that i had in my backup are there. It just seems to go back to when i originally flashed the zip. thanks a lot and here is the sense 5 rom link im using.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2293032
Is there any way for me to get titanium backup to work or would i have to download each app manually? And in case its necessary i do have a full backup of the entire viperxl rom in case i have to make more titanium backups.

It sounds to me like you're restoring system data yeah? It's not a great idea to restore system data from a different ROM, as it most likely is not compatible. So if you're changing ROMs the idea is to only restore user apps.
The reason it was still playing up after you did a factory reset is because factory reset does not wipe the system partition, and that's the partition you messed up by restoring system data using Titanium.
My advice would be to reflash your ROM. Do a full wipe (cache/dalvik/factory reset/system) first. Then boot into the ROM and use the "restore missing apps with data" option in Titanium.
Sent from my Evita

Thanks
Thanks I thought that, that was the problem or something similar because i was wondering how some of my Venom apps would work on my non Venom One X. I'm loving my Sense 5 rom but it's a shame that i can't restore all data. I would love to be able to see my call logs, sms history, and have my phone set up in the same way but obviously that one would be a problem because of compatibility and other things like lack of apps or widgets.

As mentioned, you should only use Titanium to restore user apps (and their corresponding app data), not system data. Restoring system data across different ROMs is a nearly surefire way to cause issues (as you have found), as the different ROMs tend to handle the system data differently (store them in different locations, etc.).
There are various ways to backup and restore call longs and SMS. I personally use the app SMS Backup+, which syncs your SMS to your GMail. But there are other solutions that work fine, as well.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zegoggles.smssync
As far as settings and configuration, I've always just done it manually, after flashing a new ROM. Trying to restore this across significantly different ROMs (such as Sense 4+ to Sense 5) is probably not feasible. Doing it manually doesn't take much time at all.
---------- Post added at 09:34 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:28 AM ----------
soloflyer12 said:
thanks Redpoint for that one message you sent me on the at&t website that the One X WAS rootable. You helped me alot.:laugh:
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Your very welcome. Nice to see you here!

Thanks again
You guys have been very helpful and with this post I now have 10 posts, so now i can post in android development with my other rom related problems.

[Q] Clear up android files on system?

Hey Everyone,
If I go onto "My Files" on my Galaxy S4, I see there are at least 40 folders and probably 10 are ones that I know of, rest of them are apps developers such as "Halfbrick" so I had this question, is there any way that I could move all applications under one folder or whatever, rooted and unrooted (I'm currently unrooted)?
Thanks,
Nandish

These are probably cache files, that store temporary data controlled by a certain application. I don't know but these folders are created by apps, to store data, if you move them into another folder it'll result in a possible reset of the app? (Loss of data). If its on the root of the SD card, it has data for the app.
If its in the android folder, you can delete most of the folders excluding games as it will most likely have important data. Best way to clear up this is to go into Settings>Storage>Clear cache.
Don't worry about these folders, they are just folders with data information on the app. Well that's my theory and so far its been supporting me.

krishneelg3 said:
These are probably cache files, that store temporary data controlled by a certain application. I don't know but these folders are created by apps, to store data, if you move them into another folder it'll result in a possible reset of the app? (Loss of data). If its on the root of the SD card, it has data for the app.
If its in the android folder, you can delete most of the folders excluding games as it will most likely have important data. Best way to clear up this is to go into Settings>Storage>Clear cache.
Don't worry about these folders, they are just folders with data information on the app. Well that's my theory and so far its been supporting me.
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I know what they are (this sounds rude but it's not what I mean, I mean that I understand that they're important) but I guess there's no way to move them into one folder?
Thanks anyway!

as said, you cannot move them into another folder or delete them.

NandishV said:
I know what they are (this sounds rude but it's not what I mean, I mean that I understand that they're important) but I guess there's no way to move them into one folder?
Thanks anyway!
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Moving them would merely force their recreation on app start.
Please quote me in replies.
Sent from Dell Venue 8 with Tapatalk

hunterk11 said:
Moving them would merely force their recreation on app start.
Please quote me in replies.
Sent from Dell Venue 8 with Tapatalk
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I had the same problem, i followed the guide and got my device wiped, the secure way....
Note: You'll get all your data (including sd Card! )
You'll loose anything custom you've installed (but not the flash counter)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2697238

hunterk11 said:
Moving them would merely force their recreation on app start.
Please quote me in replies.
Sent from Dell Venue 8 with Tapatalk
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Oh right, thanks!

eatsleep said:
I had the same problem, i followed the guide and got my device wiped, the secure way....
Note: You'll get all your data (including sd Card! )
You'll loose anything custom you've installed (but not the flash counter)
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2697238
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Click to collapse
What do you mean?