Root the more i read the more confused i`m becoming

[nevamore]

Hi folks,
ok, so i have rooted my phone using clockworkmod, made several backups of everything (just in case) and have downloaded AuraxTsense 8.4 and a radio and put them on the sd card. I have ROM manager installed.
Questions...
Installation
QUOTE-- Enter to recovery, do a Wipe Factory reset, Wipe Cache, Wipe Dalvik, format/wipe partition Ext2, 3 or 4.

1. I have read that I need to partition my sd card with an ext partition, it says that it would wipe the card but when I did it using the ROM manager,(512MB no swap) it took only seconds and everything was still there, Nothing looks any different. Have i done something wrong?

2. The back ups i have made. If something goes wrong or I dont favour the ROM I`ve installed, is it just a case of reinstalling the back up and everything returns to normal?

3.What is the dalvik? What is stored in the Cashe? I figured out the factory reset bit.

4. Is anyone using this ROM? Or is there a better one with similar features that anyone can recommend?

I`m sure these questions have been asked time and time again and i apologize in advance for being a noob. I just want to be certain I don`t brick the phone on my first go.
Thanks for your patience

 

[SUroot]

Hi Fo

Is the phandroid app playing up or is the content of this post literally just " Hi Fo"?


I assume it started "hi folks"

 

[LECTER]

Is the phandroid app playing up or is the content of this post literally just " Hi Fo"?


I assume it started "hi folks"

He means: "hi fools"!

Leprechaun humor!

 

[nevamore]

Oh tee hee! thanks for the quick response pity my fingers wasn`t faster. I`ve fixed it now lol

 

[SUroot]

Dalvik cache is where Android keeps information about the apps that are installed. It's a little bit like the windows registry.

You will see if the partition worked by flashing a Rom with a2sd and using quick system info from the market.

There are 2 faqs linked in my signature (follow the red link) have a,read of them

 

[Hadron]

I've just spotted that while we've sorted out that typo the actual questions seem unanswered!

Since it's Saturday night I guess the rest of the guys have lives, but I'll have a go:

Questions...
Installation
QUOTE-- Enter to recovery, do a Wipe Factory reset, Wipe Cache, Wipe Dalvik, format/wipe partition Ext2, 3 or 4.

1. I have read that I need to partition my sd card with an ext partition, it says that it would wipe the card but when I did it using the ROM manager,(512MB no swap) it took only seconds and everything was still there, Nothing looks any different. Have i done something wrong?

That doesn't sound right. Has your card's capacity decreased? If 512MB had been allocated to an ext partition, that should mean 512 less for the normal fat32 partition, so your free SD card space should have dropped. But this shouldn't be that quick a process and it should wipe the card.

If ROM manager isn't doing it right, the recommendation is to use GParted. There are instructions in SUroot's apps2sd+ faq. This does take more than a few seconds!

2. The back ups i have made. If something goes wrong or I dont favour the ROM I`ve installed, is it just a case of reinstalling the back up and everything returns to normal?

Yes. A recovery backup, commonly referred to as a nandroid backup, will return your phone's ROM, apps and data to the state they were in when the backup was taken.

The backup will be stored on your SD card, so make sure you back it up to a computer before doing anything that will wipe the card, or take the backup after you've finished setting the card up (though it does no harm to copy the backup to a computer anyway, just in case).

3.What is the dalvik? What is stored in the Cashe? I figured out the factory reset bit.

Dalvik is a Virtual Machine used by the android system to execute applications. The dalvik cache is a cache of code that has been converted for the dalvik machine. It can be cleared with no risk, as it will be rebuilt when the phone boots - this is why the first boot with a new ROM can be quite slow.

The cache partition is for temporary storage. Don't know everything that's put in there - I do know that the market app uses it while downloading, and I believe that some updates (e.g. flashing a radio zip) make use of it.

Both should actually be cleared if you do a full wipe from recovery, but to be absolutely safe people sometimes like to wipe and then wipe these again.

4. Is anyone using this ROM? Or is there a better one with similar features that anyone can recommend?

I've never used this ROM, and TBH stopped using Sense a while back, so don't really have any answer to this one. Just give it a go and see whether you like it.

But before doing that, make sure you have the recovery backup (nandroid) and Titanium backup as well (because if you wipe the phone you need something to restore apps and data to your new ROM). I personally use MyBackup Pro as well simply because I find it simpler for restoring texts and call logs. Read the rooting FAQ until you are sure you know what is needed.

I`m sure these questions have been asked time and time again and i apologize in advance for being a noob. I just want to be certain I don`t brick the phone on my first go.
Thanks for your patience

You don't have to worry about asking questions - we were all new to this once!

One other bit of personal advice: I, and many others here, do not use ROM manager. You can take (and restore) backups, wipe caches etc directly from clockwork recovery (or Amon RA for those who prefer). Assuming you rooted using unrevoked that will have installed a custom recovery on your phone (separately from the one ROM manager copies to your SD card), & you can enter recovery by pressing the volume down button while booting the phone then selecting recovery from the hboot screen (white with little skateboarding androids at the bottom). You can then do everything from there - in some respects ROM manager just adds one more thing that can go wrong.

Edit: Of course while I was typing all of that SUroot nipped in

 

[SUroot]

Edit: Of course while I was typing all of that SUroot nipped in

Yes but as always, not even a fraction as informative as you

 

[Rastaman-FB]

idd, hadron your response is awesome

 

[Hadron]

 

[SUroot]

"Awesome... This is Awesome"​

 

[nevamore]

After a bit of fiddling I managed to get S-Off and the SDCard reformatted, , I opted for Gingervillan 1.6 and am really chuffed with it. Thanks both to SURoot and Hadron, Both your replies and links made things a lot clearer

 

[SUroot]

No worries matey. Now enjoy!

 

[Hadron]

Ditto - glad it's working out

And yeah, I like GV (as you could work out from my sig). I'm away with work ATM (hence rarely online), but saw one of my colleagues using unmodified Sense this evening, and while it was vaguely nostalgic it also confirmed to me that I am not interested in going back.