Questions regarding ROMs, Kernels, etc.

[Logic_Bomb421]

Hi all, I'm new here.

I recently rooted my Epic and flashed the CleanGB 1.0 ROM, and all is good thus far.

I just have a few questions about all of this.

First, I followed the rooting guide that is in the top of this thread, so I'm Running ACS Recovery based off CWM4. I've heard about CWM5. To upgrade, would I simply flash CWM5 to my phone using Odin exactly as I did with ACS Recovery? Is is really necessary to upgrade from 4 to 5?

Second, I installed the CleanGB ROM by following QBking77's installation tutorial. I notice that sometimes he clears everything (clear data/factory reset, clear partition cache, clear dalvik cache) before he installs ROMs (as he did with CleanGB), and other times he says it isn't necessary to clear them all, or only clears one or two. How do you know when to clear them and which ones to clear? I'm assuming that actually knowing what these are would help me understand why/when to clear them.

Lastly, I know there are many different file systems, and many ROMs use file systems other than the standard RFS. If I wanted to install a ROM that uses a different file system (such as Yaffs2, etc.) how would I go about doing this? What do I need to change and how do I do it?

I've watched QBking77's video about the file systems, but I still need a little clarification.

Sorry if something I say doesn't make sense or isn't correct, I'm still pretty new to all this and am trying to learn as much as I can.

I'd rather be taught to fish than given a fish.

Thanks for any and all help!

 

[btc0526]

First answer: After new releases of CWM, roms are built using those as the main recovery so its best to always be up to date. To update I think it would be best to use ODIN to flash the new one, just because I'm not experienced with the newer builds, but hey... I might be wrong. Just check the procedures on how to update to the new one

Second answer: When you flash a new rom, that's not an updated version of the current one, you HAVE to wipe everything at least 3 times to be safe and so none of the previous roms stuff is still there. For update versions of the same rom you just have to flash and it should be fine, unless it says otherwise, which is why you may see Qbking77 only erase cache or dalvik cache

Last answer: Most of the time, if a rom is ext4 it will say immediately if you have to flash the converter package or not. More than likely its cooked into the rom so all you have to do is the usual data wipe and flash.