Hawker

I've lost count the number of times I've flashed different ROMS. Although no-wipe is possible on most, personally I dont like this method. I only tend to stick to a no-wipe flash only if the base firmware version is identical. Even so, I still always prefer a full wipe.

People tend to grimace at the thought of it, but as long as you keep your contacts+calender centrally (ie. google) and have a titanium backup of your apps, then its no big deal. After a full wipe, I can usually get my phone back up to normality in around 15 minutes. And anyway, I like to use the setting up of the phone as a quick peek to see if there are any new features in the settings.


Preparation
Before doing the wipe, make sure you take the following precautionary steps:
1. Perform a Titanium backup to ensure you have the latest versions of your apps saved. Its a good idea to save your internet bookmarks here too.
2. Many apps have a backup/restore option so use this to back up your current settings (eg. JKay Deluxe settings, Go Launcher, Fancy Widgets, Simple Calendar etc.). Do this for such apps so that the settings can be easily restored later if required.
3. Make a Nandroid backup through CWM Recovery.

Be aware of any contacts with personalized ringtones etc. as these will have to be re-assigned after the wipe. There are apps on do download from the Play Store that can save these for you however.



Full Wipe
Boot into CWM recovery (with power off, hold VOL-UP+HOME+POWER) (in that order) Release keys as soon as the screen shows anything.
Wipe Data/factory reset
Wipe Cache
Wipe Dalvik-Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Format /system

Alternatively, you can just run my GS2 ROM Nuke script

Neither of the above wipe methods wipes your internal card (/sdcard) as far as your personal files are concerned. GS2ROMNuke will wipe old application data off the internal SD Card so that your next ROM can start afresh after restoring your apps.

I think a factory format might wipe the /sdcard, but i'm not totally sure.
Factory Format: dial *2767*3855# ONLY USE AS LAST RESORT. AS SOON AS YOU PRESS THE "#" KEY, THERE'S NO GOING BACK!!!!!
(Personally I dont think wiping battery stats does anything whatsoever due to the nature of the GS2's fuel chip, but feel free to do it for completeness. I don't bother personally)

After this, you are in a position to flash your new ROM. Once flashed, here are the steps I perform.
Note: These steps are not a complete list of what you all should do, as everyone is different with differing applications and needs, but at least it should give you a starting point


Initial Setup
1. When you switch on your GS2 for the first time after a full wipe, you will be presented with the Welcome screen. Just tap the Android Man to configure
2. Click Sign in to sign into your Google account
3. Enter your Google account Username and Password and click Sign in Your phone will now begin to communicate with Google servers.
4. On the Use Google location screen I tick the 2 boxes (default)
5. On the Back up and restore screen I untick box 1 (Restore my Google account to this device) and tick box 2 (Keep this device backed up with my Google Account) I untick box 1 because I dont want the setup process to download my apps from the Market. I want to do this with Titanium Backup later. This is because: (a) Wireless has not been set up yet, and 3G will take a big hit, and (b) The automatic download from the Market is random at best. It will restore apps you downloaded (and uninstalled) ages ago, and the list is also incomplete.
6. Syncing will now take place. This will sync your contacts/calendar etc.. Click the Finish setup button. You will later need to assign any personal ringtones to your contacts as this does not get saved google-side.

You will now be presented with your first homescreen. Now to get everything back to normal.


Applications Restore
1. Set up your Wifi connection. (menu>settings>wireless+network>Wi-fi settings)
2. Allow Unknown sources to be installed (menu>settings>applications>Unknown sources)
3. In this screen, tap Development and ensure USB Debugging is enabled
4. If it doesn't come pre-bundled with your ROM, download Titanium Backup from the Market. Open it up.
5. Click the Backup/Restore tab
6. Click the tick box in the top right
7. Scroll down to Restore missing apps with data and click the Run button beside it.
8. Scroll through your apps, and make sure the apps you want restored are ticked.
9. Click the green tick at the top right of the screen. Your applications will now be restored. If you are using the free version of Titanium Backup, you will need to click the Install button one-by-one. After each, click Done Exit Titanium Backup when complete.

NOTE: You may find certain apps struggle if you restore the app with the data, depending on what firmware the Titanium Backup was taken on in comparison to the firmware you are restoring onto. It will always be much safer and reliable to only restore the app. If you know a certain application has its own settings backup, then it is better to restore the app, then restore the data from the restore option within the application itself. Basically the only way to know if your app+data restore will work is to try it. If you get odd results or FC's, uninstall it, and reinstall with only the app.

HomeScreens
1. If you use a different Launcher to the stock TouchWiz, it should now be selectable by pressing the Home key as it should have got restored in the above Titanium Backu restore operation. Select your required Launcher and tick Set as default
2. If your launcher supports saving, restore its settings (if not already done by the Titanium restore)
3. Set your wallpaper and lockscreen setup etc. if required.
4. Any widgets may need setting up again. These will appear as "Problem loading widget" on your homescreens. Just delete and add them again. If these have the facility to save their individual settings, then restore them
5. If you use JKay v13+, then restore your setting in the Deluxe app. On subsequent JKay versions you will have to reinstall your theme, and restore your settings through the app.

As far as overall look+feel goes, that's pretty much it.
Now all you need to do is go into your settings (menu>settings) and go through each in turn to suit your requirements:


Menu>Settings

Wireless+network
1. Wifi settings. I make sure sleep policy is set to Never when plugged in. Everything else I leave to default.

Call
1. Call alert. I tick Outgoing call vibration. Call status tones I tick Call connect tone in Alerts on call I tick Vibration

Sound
I set my Phone ringtone and Notification ringtone to suit.

Display
1. Screen Display. Font Style If you have installed a font pack, this will not get lost in the full wipe. Select your font as normal. I also set my Homescreen Wallpaper and Lockscreen wallpaper, and set my Clock position to Top.

Location and security
1. Under My Location tick the first 3 boxes. Normally the last box, Use sensor aiding, is not ticked by default.
Set up your lock screen if required (I never bother)
2. I tick Remote controls. This will allow remote packages such as Samsung Dive, Android Lost etc to work on your handset. You will need to set up your Samsung account login details when ticked.

Accounts and sync
I untick Auto-sync

Motion
Un-tick Motion activation

Language and keyboard
1. Select input method to Swype
2. Speed vs. accuracy. Set the slider to the far right


Applications
Set up your applications as required
Camera Options>Storage set to Memory card
Email Set up your login details to GMail
Calendar menu>settings>calendars untick My calendar, only showing my Google-side calendars. I also tick Lock time zone

Note: Your google calendar will only sync events 30 days prior to the current date. If you want to bring in events from further in the past from your google account onto your phone, then follow these steps

and any others relevant to you

That's about it. I know it looks quite a lot, but it can be all done and dusted in around 15 minutes. This I feel is a small price to pay for peace of mind and stability further down the line

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Last edited by Hawker; August 31st, 2012 at 07:19 AM.

mrao

Nice guide....will be really helpful to people who don't flash as often as some of us...appreciate the effort.

Sword Fish

Hawker, how long does it take you to do a complete wipe and reload? I have been doing a TI backup everyweek by default just in case but have never actually performed a restore. I also have been doing a CWM backup each week. I have been tempted to do a wipe and reload as something is wierd with my battery even though I am using the same setup's as others here. Maybe if NEAR comes out this weekend, it will be time to do a complete wipe! It's supposed to be cold anyways...

Hawker

The clue is in the thread title butty!

ironass

Excellent guide hawker!

I've learnt from long and bitter experience, going right back to my days with the Nokia N80, that the best way is to always do a full wipe and fresh install to eliminate any possibility of detritus from a previous installation causing havoc, now or in the future.

I wish I had a pound for every time I read someone boasting that they did not do a clean install and everything was fine, only to have them posting that, days or weeks later, they were having a problem with an installed app or even one they've just installed and all because a conflict had arisen because they hadn't done a full wipe.


Laughing my bits off!

When's the braille version out old boy?

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Last edited by ironass; January 11th, 2012 at 10:20 AM.

Sword Fish

Thanks, have to learn how to read all the words on a page!!

Logan47

I agree, it's not that big a deal to full wipe. I haven't been flasing custom roms for long and have done a dozen already and after the initial couple, I now always do full wipe to avoid errors. After fifteen to twenty mins, all back up and restored. I did three in an evening a few weeks ago so not that time consuming really. I now keep three cwm backups of different roms I'm looking at to always keep that safety net.
Learned a lot from these forums on being careful and follwing the right steps....I don't want to be making one of those "oh noes I've bricked it" threads.

Kie

Full wipe is great for changing roms. The only annoyance is changing all the settings, but it doesn't take long really.

Awesome guide hawker! My only disagreement with it is that I prefer Swiftkey over Swype (so fast!).

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turbohobbit

Great guide, and full of little tips even experienced flashers (oo er) might not know anout / automatically undertake. Any chance this can be sticky'd?

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Shotgun84

Well ahead of you there. I put it in the all things root sticky yesterday.

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shenga

Silly question (s) coming up but :

You do each of these procedures twice or what ?

I don't have wipe cache but wipe cache partition < is this what you mean ? >

The remaining two I find under advanced ..... Is this correct ?

Shotgun84

Spot on.
Yep you do them twice.
Yes it means cache partition.
Yes the two in advanced are correct.

F Dizzle

Great guide. 2 questions:

1) Does it matter if you do a wipe AFTER installing a new ROM, or must it always be done before installing a new ROM?

2) "My Backup Pro Root" lets you backup and restore all settings and home screens. Is it ok to use that to restore those settings after wiping, or does that defeat the whole purpose of performing the wipe in the first place?

Kuragari

1) If you do a full wipe after you install a new ROM, then you'll have basically wiped off what you just put on.

2) I'd only restore apps, not system settings as this has the potential to cause errors and other problems.

Riche101

Use Titanium Backup and just restored user apps and data

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Kernel Siyahv2.6.7 ROM: CheckROM v4 ModemKP8
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semus

I have a couple of questions about changing between roms, if you don't mind.
i've been on checkrom v4 for a bit now, its the first rom i tried, and im using red pill kernel,
if i want to switch to a different rom, say lite'ning, should i flash an official firmware, then do a full wipe, and then lite'ning?
also, if i flash back to an official firmware, should i flash an official kernel, or will it flash one on its own?

Thanks

__________________

Shotgun84

There's no need to go back to stock. Just do a full wipe and then flash the new ROM.

Edit: If you were to go back to a stock firmware you wouldn't have to flash a stock kernel, this would get flashed at the same time as the firmware.

Last edited by Shotgun84; March 19th, 2012 at 03:50 PM.

semus

thanks, i'll be flashing away now

etotheo

Nice guide!
Thanks

RoRo1990

Ya i like swiftkey also

chrost

Hey guys, I've got a question: I flashed a custom rom for some purpose but now I want to sell my galaxy s2 and I want to flash an original rom again and aditionally delete all the data. After the full wipe, you say that I have to flash another rom. But how do I get an original rom on there, where do I get it from?

Anyway, thank you for the guide and thank you for the answer in advance!

renzo75

Thanks for an awesome article - will be attempting when I get home :-)

Quick question.. I'm in Aus and last night came up OTA update available - ICS!!! YAY...
I have a Non-stock kernel (unfortunately) and the OTA update keeps crashing.. still on android 2.3.5 but rooted and yeh...
Will this get the kernel back to normal so my OTA update will work? Kies says no updates available (which I've read is because it's rooted)... or would a simple unrooting help?

Thanks.

Kie

Unfortunately not...well not entirely. This will get you halfway, but then you have to manually flash the stock firmware and kernel to get fully back to stock and be able to update.

My personal recommendation is to use Odin to update to stock ICS rather than Kies (since people have been having trouble with the way Kies updates). You can get official carrier branded firmware here. Only flash the firmware though, not the stock kernel (you'll be unrooted if you install the stock kernel) and you'll be on stock ICS before you know it!

renzo75

Thanks :-) will try the odin way as you suggested... can't seem to log into to samfirmwares though - just locks up but I'll keep trying..

3/Vodafone (Aus)

1981

hey guys,
this is a first timer here. FLASHED to 'LPG' via Odin and ROOTED my S2 yesterday after months of using the default things.
i have done nandroid backup(through recovery mode). is this procedure exactly the same as doing backup from within the CWM app? I understand this a 'system restore' thingy. wat is the scenario that this backup should have to be restored again? if I FLASH different ROMS and then do this nandroid restore while using someother ROM, would it delete all that and take me back to right where I am now?
I have bought the Titanium backup Pro version. just updated all apps and data using that.

FULL WIPE need to be done before FLASHING a ROM for the first ever time.
thank you

compmanir

Just something to add, whenever i want to do full wipe, i do back up my System Setting with my backup Pro, and then after flashing i restore my setting using it, and every thing is as it was before, i also back up my calendar and Sms with it

ironass

My BackupPro is OK for un-rooted phones but for rooted phones, as Hawker mentions in the OP, a Titinaium Backup coupled with a nandroid backup is much more comprehensive and reliable. See, here.

ironass

[QUOTE=1981;4492984]Correct!

Just make sure you save your backup's, TB & nandroid, to your external SD card in case your internal, UCB, storage is accidentally wiped or corrupted.


Depends on the ROM but always advisable.

djwuh

ive been told doing an ota update while rooted is a good way to brick your device

beneix

Great guide. I got to this post because I was looking for the steps to take when doing a factory reset. I am not looking to flash a new ROM, I just want to do a factory reset on my S2 first to see if some problems disappear.

Which of the steps described, if any, should I change if I am just wanting to do a factory reset?

ironass

Hello and welcome to android Forums beneix!

Hawker's guide is intended primarily for, "rooted", users.

If you are unrooted you can go into Settings and select Factory Reset from one of the sub menu's, depending on whether you are running Gingerbread or Ice Cream Sandwich firmware, the location of Factory Reset will vary, and this will wipe just your phones memory and return it to its out-of-the-box condition whilst leaving the Internal memory and SD card untouched.

DialtonePhone

Hi, I'm unrooted with an EVO Shift and am wondering how to backup app data/settings, saved wifi passwords, and pretty much all of my customization.
Is there a way to do this?
Thanks for the help

ironass

What you are asking for is a nandroid backup which can only be achieved by rooting.

teslax

Hi.

I have on my Galaxy S2 the stock ICS 4.0.3 with CF-root kernel 5.4. I would like now to upload the phone with ICS 4.0.4 (XWLPU). Can I do it now like always with Odin or should I do first something else with my phone (wipe etc.)?

Thanks in advice

Last edited by teslax; August 31st, 2012 at 07:42 AM.

Hawker

I would do the following:
1. titanium backup any user apps that are not already backed up
2. Perform a cwm backup in cwm recovery
3. run the nuke script
4. flash new rom via odin

DialtonePhone

I know this isn't the correct place, but it's the only place I got an answer.
Is there any way to get even part of the data I'm looking to retain without rooting?

sntaylor

im currently being a little on the stupid side... ive never used the rom wipes provided by hawker (feck knows why ive not!) but my phone is clogged up with lads of pointless folders, sub folders and even a secondary rom from my days of dual booting on ics.

basically i wanna start a fresh! I have copied all the info on my phone over to my laptop (this includes titanium backups and nandroids)

Also on the neat lite with most recent mods...

What would be the best way to go about wiping the full phone (as if i had just bought it!), im also going to reformat my external sd card.

If i followed this " Factory Format: dial *2767*3855# ONLY USE AS LAST RESORT. AS SOON AS YOU PRESS THE "#" KEY, THERE'S NO GOING BACK!!!!! " would it just wipe the slate clean? or would it cause any issues with me having neat lite and the various mods?

choice of kernel shouldnt be affected either should it?

Cheers, guys

Slug

"Factory data reset" will do it, reformating /cache & /data in the process and leaving you with an 'out-of-the-box' experience but with your current ROM/kernel.

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sntaylor

Brilliant thank you slug

Shall have a go at it tonight when i get back from work.... i look forward to actually having a better phone again especially now that i know what apps etc i actually want/need!

ironass

It never hurts to have a good, "Spring clean", old boy!

As well as the Factory reset and formatting your external SD card, you could also Format your USB storage as well...

Settings > Storage > Format USB storage (on JB)

You might be surprised at how much crud you can get rid of this way.

Obviously, if you do all that, you will lose your clockwork mod file, containing back-up's and blobs, as well as your Titanium backup and efs back-up files which you may want to copy to your PC, first.

sntaylor

I had been wandering about doing that as well, and then forgot about it :P

im assuming that by copying over all contents of my phone, i will have copied all titanium backups and can just copy that particular folder along with various others!?

And ill have less of the "old " thank you

Hurts my feelings as ive just turned 26 and am becoming a father soon, so old is a touchy nerve

Im looking forward to having a slicker feeling phone and ill know that if things go wrong, its down to kernel/ rom etc, not as likely the crap on my phone

ironass

Old.. boy/man/stick/thing/fruit/etc; are just friendly greetings, a public school hang over. Hawker has taken this to a fine art with greetings to me, such as, "Old stoat juggler!"

In another 9 years you'll be, "Middle Aged". Although, where children are concerned, it could feel a lot sooner!

sntaylor

:-(I've done a couple different wipe and formats but a lot of the crud is still there.... for example sms backup, all there, downloads of all kernels, roms etc still there...what am I doing wrong?

I want a completely new phone experience,with nothing on it other than stock(well in this case, neat Rom) apps etc....

Is their any way to do this, or will I just have to delete folders manually?(I'm scared top delete the wrong things!)

I'm also unable to try the factory reset by typing the*# number..... it doesn't work :-(

Last edited by sntaylor; January 20th, 2013 at 02:51 PM.

Squinty13

I had a similar problem recently. I wanted an as stock phone with no bits and bobs left over from previous installs. My problems started after I had been flashing many different roms.

I moved anything I wanted to save from my internal usb to my external sd card. For me, this was only my apex launcher backups.

I tried wiping the internal usb from the phone but some folders would not dissappear. I then tried rebooting into recovery and wiping from there (format emmc). Selecting 'install from sd' I could see that some folders were still present. After messing around with Root Explorer it seemed that some of the folders were read only and I could not alter the permissions or the owner.

So, I downloaded odin, a fresh copy of neatROM, the latest LS8 firmware and the latest Philz tar file (Philz kernel now gives you root when installed) . I placed neatROM and Philz on my external sd so I could flash them later.

Using a pc, I connected my phone via usb and put it into mass storage mode. After the drives had been detected, I right clicked the internal usb drive, selected format, checked FAT32 and then OK. BE CAREFUL! Make sure that you are formatting the correct drive. It will be the one WITHOUT the neatROM zip on it and the Philz kernel tar file. Once it has finished, check inside and it should be squeaky clean!

Then I used Odin to flash the firmware as per the guide by Ironass. To obtain root, I simpily installed Philz via the stock recovery. Then I installed neatROM (optional).

This method is a little overkill but it's the only way that gives me piece of mind that there is no junk floating around my phone. Not for a couple of months at least

sntaylor

That might just be what I'm gonna do tomorrow thanks....

Well I did tell the Mrs I was gonna have a rest day, and as it is 5 am and bugger lugs still ain't back asleep.....

Of course I'm gonna end up spending half the day backing up pictures of him! Lol

ajsmart

llo ppl
i have installed an unofficial JB update on my s2 phone btw m frm india ...sadly before installing it i nvr bothered to chk the XWLSJ and all of tht stuff

after the update i intermittently have two problems 1 could not connect to play store keeps popping up and 2 google.gapps error keeps coming up the phone works fine for a few hours then it has these errors starts to heat up, laggg, freeze once in a while...i hate it ....m a doc and cant afford to lose my battery in a few hours due to these stupid errors even ICS was very stable for me

after reading Jelly Bean update - Dummies Guide i came to this post to see for a clean wipe for my phone and start from the scratch..
i dont mind losing my apps or settings have bckd up my other files..

wht i intend to do is wipe my phone completely and have the stock GB and then update it via kies to JB as the official update is available in INDIA.

i dunno how to wipe my phone clean, well without damaging it :P !!

have been using sgs2 for a couple of years now...LOVE it..except for the recent events :\

ironass

Hello and welcome to Android Forums ajsmart!

So, in a nutshell, you have got a rubbish custom ROM and want to do a clean install of the stock JB firmware for India.

1. Backup anything you may wish to keep such as photos, music, videos, etc; to your computer and make sure that you sync your Contacts, Calendar, etc; with Google.

2. In...

Settings > Storage > SD card... select Format SD card

then go to...

Settings > Storage > USB storage... select Format USB storage

then go to...

Settings > Backup and restore and select Format data reset

The above procedures will wipe your phone clean but you will still have the custom ROM you installed.

3. Now go to #1.7 of the Jelly Bean update - Dummies Guide and follow the instructions contained there for downloading the stock Samsung firmware and flashing it using Odin.

4. You can now enter your Google account details and re-sync your phone with Google as well as copying back any photos, videos, etc:

5. The stock firmware will un-root you and if you wish to root again, just follw the step-by-step guide in posts #1 and #2 of the Rooting Galaxy S2 - Dummies Guide.

sirkula

After doing full wipe, Format/system if I exidently reboot what would happen? If something goes wrong can I use Odin to flash new rom after format/system. Will I still be able to enter download mode?

Hawker

the recovery filesystem ad kernel is not touched by a full wipe so you could go into recovery (or download mode) and flash your new rom as normal.