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Nearly stock rooted 2.3.3

Is there a ROM out there with root, clockwork, etc etc already installed that wont completely wipe my SD card? I am tired of loosing EVERYTHING on my SD card each time I have to do simple tasks on this phone.
I am on a rooted 2.3.1 and loving it but I would like to try out another rom. Most of the roms out there now are for 2.3.2 or 2.3.3 only but to upgrade and loose root means to have to wipe my sd card again to unlock my bootloader hence my question

As far as I am aware, when you unlock the bootloader or flash a new ROM, it shouldn't be wiping your SD card (/sdcard).. However, when you flash a new rom, its highly recommended to wipe the Data & Cache. Though doing this DOES wipe your settings etc..
Since you already have root, you could simply download Titanium backup to backup all your settings/apps/data (there are plenty of guides for this..), then flash the new ROM, and restore everything with Titanium Backup again. The process is very simple and doesn't take long at all..
Also, most ROMs that are in these threads should already be rooted and contain superuser, busybox, etc..
The closest to stock that I've seen is here. There are four flavors and two of them are already rooted..Though I think this ROM is no longer going to be updated.
The current ROM I use is NSCollab and I would highly recommend it..It already is rooted and contains tweaks and a few apps like ROM Manager etc..

Actually when you unlock the bootloader it does delete your SD card, yes that includes your titanium backup folder ie you loose that too.
Wiping settings etc is no big deal, but wiping all my music, photos, titanium backups etcetera etc is what I am concerned about. I lost all the when I rooted initially
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

kponti said:
Actually when you unlock the bootloader it does delete your SD card, yes that includes your titanium backup folder ie you loose that too.
Wiping settings etc is no big deal, but wiping all my music, photos, titanium backups etcetera etc is what I am concerned about. I lost all the when I rooted initially
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
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TI can sync to a dropbox account. As for the Contents of the SD card. Back those up before changing ROM's. My understanding is that it's the bootloader unlock that wipes the works (I did mine the day i got it, so it was already virgin)
Most of the third party roms offer upgrade paths without wiping, CM7 for example, you can keep updating and rarely do you have to re-install a thing.

but once you unlock the bootloader, you should never again have to wipe your sd card. at that point, any time you change a ROM, the sd card remains in tact and is not wiped. so you only lose data the "first" time you root. then from that point forward, you change ROMs at will and lose nothing etc.

If you can't use dropbox, you could simply backup with titanium and copy the contents from the sdcard to your computer, then unlock the bootloader..

[Q] Help coming from Windows Mobile to android

So i am very new to android, i did however figure out how to get root and get clockwork and flashed a custom rom. I have two questions. 1. I am currently running honeysense rom and see there is a 7.3 update, how do i go about installing the update? will doing the update erase all my apps i downloaded? If so i did back them up using titanium back up.... do i have to do wipe data, cache and all that in clockwork before installing the update?
2. If i want to do a completely new rom what are the steps to doing this as i have all this stuff on my sd card will post a pic of it curious as to what can all be deleted to free up space when starting fresh...
3. Last question sorry, i made a back up of "stock" rom before flashing the honeysense, and i named it "stock" where is that located??
ok so i thought i only had two questions changed to 4.
4. what is pd98img file the third to last one on the pic i uploaded, can it be deleted?

1. Check what Android version they both are if what you have now and the update are the same Android version (2.3.4 for example) then you should be able to just wipe the Dalvic cache when flashing from ROM manager. This will keep all of your apps and settings and flash the ROM. However it's VERY IMPORTANT to make a backup before trying this because certain settings may cause problems and you may need to restore your old version and do a clean install.
2. If you want to try a different ROM you should always wipe all data and caches before doing it, this can be done via ClockWorkMod or Rom Manager. But after that it's just the same as flashing the ones you have already.
3. I'm not really sure but I'm sure someone knows or you can find it via search.
4. PD98IMG is used when rooting to flash the downgraded rom automatically, it's safe to delete, and if you ever need it again it's easy to find.

gcihlar said:
3. Last question sorry, i made a back up of "stock" rom before flashing the honeysense, and i named it "stock" where is that located??
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in the clockworkmod folder under backup

Jake33108 said:
1. Check what Android version they both are if what you have now and the update are the same Android version (2.3.4 for example) then you should be able to just wipe the Dalvic cache when flashing from ROM manager. This will keep all of your apps and settings and flash the ROM. However it's VERY IMPORTANT to make a backup before trying this because certain settings may cause problems and you may need to restore your old version and do a clean install.
2. If you want to try a different ROM you should always wipe all data and caches before doing it, this can be done via ClockWorkMod or Rom Manager. But after that it's just the same as flashing the ones you have already.
3. I'm not really sure but I'm sure someone knows or you can find it via search.
4. PD98IMG is used when rooting to flash the downgraded rom automatically, it's safe to delete, and if you ever need it again it's easy to find.
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I'm not sure what version it is, its on the download link for the rom's link I have a issue where my phone shuts off and gets stuck on the screen after the splash screen and stays there happens every two days or so and this update is suppose to fix it here is the link doesn't really say anything bout what version android it is
never mind i cant post links yet, but in honeysense forum section on here just uploaded a 7.3 suppose to fix my issue i dont think its a change in android version just a fix. If that is the case do i do apply update from sd or apply zip from sd?
2. If i do a full whipe doesn't that erase everything?? including my back ups of the roms i have backed up? never mind on that one found my answer, doesn't touch the sd card right?
Thank you for the quick response.

You can just apply the update from SD, you can even do it with ROM manager and it's a little more straight forward. I'd just take a swing at it and hope it works, if not you always have backups you can restore.
And no, all of your backups should be on your SD card, you dont need to wipe the SD card when flashing a new rom.

Jake33108 said:
You can just apply the update from SD, you can even do it with ROM manager and it's a little more straight forward. I'd just take a swing at it and hope it works, if not you always have backups you can restore.
And no, all of your backups should be on your SD card, you dont need to wipe the SD card when flashing a new rom.
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ok its 312 mb so im assuming do a full wipe and reflash correct? if this is case can i copy the clockwork mod file that contains my back ups to my computer and also titaniumbackup file to my cpu do a install the rom on my phone then do a format of my sd card? and have it be blank then copy and paste clockwork mod and titaniumbackup back to my sd card and be good to go?
I am sorry for being such a noob to android lol

a full wipe does not mean wipe the SD card. you can leave that untouched

I think you misunderstood me, you DONT need to wipe your sd card, wiping data/cache wont touch your sd card, and flashing wont do anything to it either, you should be able to leave all of those files on it.

i got what your saying i just wanted to start fresh i guess you could say...with a fresh sd card and this newer build i just downloaded the file and its 312 mb so i figured i would just start back from scratch, and wondering if i can do a full wipe on the phone put the rom on my sd card flash it, i have a back up of the older version in case something goes wrong on my sd card can i take the backups copy them to my computer along with the files in titanium, after the format is done with the sd card copy and paste them back on the sd card and restore titanium files and if need be restore the previous version of the rom? so then i have all most of my free space back on the sd again. Will this all work this way?

Ok, i get what youre saying now. Yeah, there's no reason that won't work. I transfered everything from my SD to my computer and then back to another SD because i got a 32GB one. You shouldn't have any problem with that.

ok thank you very much for helping me understand this a little bit more appreciate it a lot

wipe data/cache question

I understand the basics of modding...i currently have an AT&T skyrocket running the SKY ICE Rom. I've ran a ROM backup via Rom Manager. My question is, if i want to try a new ROM then i would run a backup right before installing a new ROM. then go through the same process as when installing the first ROM (wiping data/cache) right? Wont this delete my backups? Or what exact data is it wiping when you do it? and is it safe to have an external SD card in the phone when doing the wipe? I dont want to lose any information on my sd card and its always worried me so i take it out. thanks for any help

When you install a new rom there is no need to back up again if you already have made a back up recently (if it is a old back up then make a new back up and if not required delete the older back up as they consume a lot of space). Regarding the loss of SD card data, you need not worry only the data on phones internal memory gets erased.the back up which you make on rom manager is safe as it is stored on your SD card.hence,there is no need to take out your SD card when installing a new rom.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App

anuragchowdry said:
When you install a new rom there is no need to back up again if you already have made a back up recently (if it is a old back up then make a new back up and if not required delete the older back up as they consume a lot of space). Regarding the loss of SD card data, you need not worry only the data on phones internal memory gets erased.the back up which you make on rom manager is safe as it is stored on your SD card.hence,there is no need to take out your SD card when installing a new rom.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
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so doing a rom backup doesn't backup all your current apps and settings? i hate losing my aCar info and my plants vs zombies saves. when i did my first nandroid backup (before i flashed my current ROM) i had my SD card out i believe. and when i did the wipe through CWM it didn't completely wipe the phone out. i believe all the folders where still located on the phone.
i just want to backup my phone to the way it is currently and try out some new ROMs to see if i like one better and be able to go back to this one if i decide i dont like the new ones. i know that i can back up all my apps and user data with titanium backup and reinstall apps and such to a new rom if i choose to stay with it.

thanks
anuragchowdry said:
When you install a new rom there is no need to back up again if you already have made a back up recently (if it is a old back up then make a new back up and if not required delete the older back up as they consume a lot of space). Regarding the loss of SD card data, you need not worry only the data on phones internal memory gets erased.the back up which you make on rom manager is safe as it is stored on your SD card.hence,there is no need to take out your SD card when installing a new rom.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
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this is a good explanation. I did a data/cache wipe, but was wondering what stayed, and what goes away. I just updated to Franco's kernel (I'm using 4.0.4 ICS) and tried to get back to the stock kernel. well. I failed.

[Q] Why does changing roms deletes everything

When ever I change roms it deletes all backups, and even deletes clockwork mod recovery. I have no idea what is going on. This didn't happen on my gnex. I have a 2 gig memory card in it. How can I put all backups and recovery on the card? It deletes the rom folder I create to put all the roms in. I have to create the folder every time I change roms. This is anoying as hell. Please help. Thanks

wily5150 said:
When ever I change roms it deletes all backups, and even deletes clockwork mod recovery. I have no idea what is going on. This didn't happen on my gnex. I have a 2 gig memory card in it. How can I put all backups and recovery on the card? It deletes the rom folder I create to put all the roms in. I have to create the folder every time I change roms. This is anoying as hell. Please help. Thanks
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I think your doing something wrong because it shouldn't do that, what ROM hase it done that in? And what at our steps to flashing? As to backups on your sd car when you go to backup there an option to back up to external so card.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

Edit nm, I misread.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

I was running jellywiz, and I flashed the executioner. I had to reinstall cwm. And I had to create the roms folder again, the folder where I keep my downloaded roms. As for flashing roms, I do a factory reset, wipe davlik, and cache. It's kind of annoying having to recreate everything. Thanks

wily5150 said:
When ever I change roms it deletes all backups, and even deletes clockwork mod recovery. I have no idea what is going on. This didn't happen on my gnex. I have a 2 gig memory card in it. How can I put all backups and recovery on the card? It deletes the rom folder I create to put all the roms in. I have to create the folder every time I change roms. This is anoying as hell. Please help. Thanks
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Did you flash a 4.2 ROM??? It does that if you don't use an updated recovery.

You are definitely doing something wrong because that is not expected behavior.
A 2GB SD card is ridiculously undersized for backups. A single nandroid or TiBu would likely take all of that space if it even fit. Perhaps it's failing to backup to the external card and defaulting back to internal memory?

sd card size
bobloblaw1 said:
You are definitely doing something wrong because that is not expected behavior.
A 2GB SD card is ridiculously undersized for backups. A single nandroid or TiBu would likely take all of that space if it even fit. Perhaps it's failing to backup to the external card and defaulting back to internal memory?
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I would recommend at least a 16G sdcard. You need that much to stores backups, stock boot rom, custom rom, and you data files to restore. Things like contacts, calendar, etc should always be backed up before you install custom ROM.
CWM is a good boot loader to use as it provides many options and also use something like Titanium backup as your backup manager.

If you do a data reset from the updated recovery will it delete the directory on the internal SDCard where the backup of the stock ROM is?

EFighter said:
If you do a data reset from the updated recovery will it delete the directory on the internal SDCard where the backup of the stock ROM is?
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yes it does

EFighter said:
If you do a data reset from the updated recovery will it delete the directory on the internal SDCard where the backup of the stock ROM is?
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What recovery are you talking about? If it's cwm touch no it doesn't! I factory reset every time I flash a new ROM (and I'll flash a couple a day sometimes) the only way you'll delete those in recovery is if you manually delete a backup or if you go under the mounts and storage menu and format internal SD card.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

kintwofan said:
What recovery are you talking about? If it's cwm touch no it doesn't! I factory reset every time I flash a new ROM (and I'll flash a couple a day sometimes) the only way you'll delete those in recovery is if you manually delete a backup or if you go under the mounts and storage menu and format internal SD card.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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So I am talking about the clockworkmod stock rom backup. When I backup it puts the backup in the following location which I will call LocA:
/mnt/sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/
This is not my SD card tho. My external SDCard is located at which I will call LocB:
/mnt/extSdCard/
But I also have which I will call LocC:
/sdcard/
I when I go to look at the ‘Phone’ while connected to USB I can see LocA and see the backups, when I use the app SDCard Manager I can go to LocC and I can see that they mirror each other. Why is my stuff duplicated? It is wasting space?
Also when I boot into CWM recovery the menu that says load from SD card actually points to LocA. My fear is that since LocA is really internal memory that a factory reset will delete this and since CWM recovery cant see LocB that I will be locked out. In other words cant load the backup of the mod or the new downloaded CM10.

EFighter said:
So I am talking about the clockworkmod stock rom backup. When I backup it puts the backup in the following location which I will call LocA:
/mnt/sdcard/clockworkmod/backup/
This is not my SD card tho. My external SDCard is located at which I will call LocB:
/mnt/extSdCard/
But I also have which I will call LocC:
/sdcard/
I when I go to look at the ‘Phone’ while connected to USB I can see LocA and see the backups, when I use the app SDCard Manager I can go to LocC and I can see that they mirror each other. Why is my stuff duplicated? It is wasting space?
Also when I boot into CWM recovery the menu that says load from SD card actually points to LocA. My fear is that since LocA is really internal memory that a factory reset will delete this and since CWM recovery cant see LocB that I will be locked out. In other words cant load the backup of the mod or the new downloaded CM10.
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Okay gotcha, a factory reset does not delete your internal memory. What it deletes is your user apps, settings, etc. That is the same place mine is backed up to and like I said I factory reset every flash. However, if you're really worried about under the backup option in cwm select backup to external SD card.
As for the sd card 0 and SD card. I don't believe there are really two files of everything. I believe it's more just naming for the android system, but maybe someone else can confirm this for me
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

kintwofan said:
Okay gotcha, a factory reset does not delete your internal memory. What it deletes is your user apps, settings, etc. That is the same place mine is backed up to and like I said I factory reset every flash. However, if you're really worried about under the backup option in cwm select backup to external SD card.
As for the sd card 0 and SD card. I don't believe there are really two files of everything. I believe it's more just naming for the android system, but maybe someone else can confirm this for me
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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Thank you, Thank you, and Thank you for taking the time to answer that.
With that info im confident i wont get stuck in some limbo. During my lunch break ill try to flash CM10 again this time with a factory reset and see if i get further than the spinning logo.

I don't do the cwm touch. For some reason I can't find any roms that I've backed up, So I use the typical cwm. I don't know, maybe it's just me, I'm screwing up somewhere. But everytime I have to reinstall cwm. Thanks for the help

wily5150 said:
I don't do the cwm touch. For some reason I can't find any roms that I've backed up, So I use the typical cwm. I don't know, maybe it's just me, I'm screwing up somewhere. But everytime I have to reinstall cwm. Thanks for the help
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I am FAR from being an expert, but i had to reflash cwm everytime i restarted the phone until i flashed it and from the menu selected prevent stock recovery.

Is there a way to create a full image of an android phone?

Is it possible to create a full image of android 10+?
It is very important to me that it really is a full image and not just some backup app form the playstore that saves your contacts and thats it.
I'd like to create an image of diffrent OSs and be able to freely flash them without lossing anything that was on my phone when the images where created. For example I want an unrooted version of Pixel experince with some apps on it, than I want an image of lineague OS with root access and maybe some more.

Bomber293 said:
Is it possible to create a full image of android 10+?
It is very important to me that it really is a full image and not just some backup app form the playstore that saves your contacts and thats it.
I'd like to create an image of diffrent OSs and be able to freely flash them without lossing anything that was on my phone when the images where created. For example I want an unrooted version of Pixel experince with some apps on it, than I want an image of lineague OS with root access and maybe some more.
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Click to collapse
So to be frank theres a lot that comes with doing that cause it varies on the device as well armv7, arm64 a or ab, arm8 and such download
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.andr7e.deviceinfohw&hl=en_ZA&gl=US
Take note of all the information screenshot maybe, to save time
To create a full imagebackup you need to look for the right back up and flashing software , like samsung's odin tools or mtk devices sp flash tools
just search your devices name full backup youtube (on google search when you need help I'll be here within 24 hours

TWRP backups do seem to work fine, however they don't save internal storage... IIRC I had all my internal storage deleted often when I last played around with root and custom roms. Is this just not a thing anymore? Becuse for now I was able to keep my internal storage.

Bomber293 said:
TWRP backups do seem to work fine, however they don't save internal storage... IIRC I had all my internal storage deleted often when I last played around with root and custom roms. Is this just not a thing anymore? Becuse for now I was able to keep my internal storage.
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Click to collapse
Internal storage can be included in your TWRP backup, you just have to choose the option to include it before doing the backup.

Droidriven said:
Internal storage can be included in your TWRP backup, you just have to choose the option to include it before doing the backup.
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Atleast in my version it can't. Maybe becuase it's pretty old.
Anyways is internal storage wipe still a thing when you root/install custom roms or similar? Or just once when you unlock bootloader and install a custom recovery?

Bomber293 said:
Is it possible to create a full image of android 10+?
It is very important to me that it really is a full image and not just some backup app form the playstore that saves your contacts and thats it.
I'd like to create an image of diffrent OSs and be able to freely flash them without lossing anything that was on my phone when the images where created. For example I want an unrooted version of Pixel experince with some apps on it, than I want an image of lineague OS with root access and maybe some more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If phone is rooted then why not simply do a NANDroid backup?
Look inside here:
[TOOLS][ZIPS][SCRIPTS]Android Backup and Restore Tools[Multiple Devices/Platforms]
android-backup-project The android backup project provides a set of scripts and tools to backup and/or restore applications installed on Android devices. This is not adb backup which didn't work for my requirements as it doesn't backup...
forum.xda-developers.com

Bomber293 said:
Atleast in my version it can't. Maybe becuase it's pretty old.
Anyways is internal storage wipe still a thing when you root/install custom roms or similar? Or just once when you unlock bootloader and install a custom recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, it has always been an option in TWRP as far back as I can remember, certainly since 2011, over 10 years now. Maybe it just wasn't included by whoever built your version of TWRP.
Wiping internal storage is a matter of choice when flashing ROMs, flashing ROMs does not touch data/data partition(userspace). The factory reset option in custom recovery also does not wipe userspace.
When unlocking bootloader, internal storage is wiped by default because it is automatically a part of the unlocking process and cannot be avoided. If bootloader is already unlocked, wiping internal is not required in order to flash a custom recovery.

Bomber293 said:
Atleast in my version it can't. Maybe becuase it's pretty old.
Anyways is internal storage wipe still a thing when you root/install custom roms or similar? Or just once when you unlock bootloader and install a custom recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here are instructions for backing up internal storage via TWRP, just in case you are overlooking something in TWRP.
TWRP backup including internal storage
We all know, at least I hope so, that if you perform a backup in TWRP the internal storage data (photos, documents, etc.) is not included in the backup. https://twrp.me/faq/backupexclusions.html Of course, you can always manually backup the...
forum.xda-developers.com

YOU cant backup internal storage if the partition is encypted, if you already have root just use helium backup + enough space to where you'll backup, but you'll need to root again to recover that backup
Then backup the other stuff you want to via twrp
And Using MTK flash tools if device is supported there is a way just google backup "phone name" mtk flash tools