Factory rest does not wipe everything?

[MikeNY]

I did a wipe data/factory rest in recovery (I have clockwordmod) but it still kept the same rom and kernel.. it wipes all apps, recent calls, sms, etc. Did I do something wrong? I wanted to go back to stock (still be rooted and bootloaded unlocked) and install a rom fresh not the "dirty" way by just clearing cache and davlik.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[Paul627g]

Factory Reset (data wipe as its known) in CWM or TWRP recovery will still leave your current ROM/kernel in place but give it a fresh start as it was when you first flashed it.

If you want to completely wipe out the ROM then you need to wipe or format /system to remove that.

NOTE: Doing so will leave you with nothing, so you need to flash something for your device to boot into... A new ROM, a Nandroid backup of a previous setup.. Something...

Going back to stock, rooted, unlocked can only be achieved by flashing a custom ROM that is based on the stock OS with no modifications done to it.

 

[MikeNY]

Ok thanks I get it now so when people wipe data they are just doing a more thorough wipe prior to installing a new rom or something, so there is really no reason to completely wipe? I am on Synergy 1.7 and installed a different kernel, I wanted to go back to the kernel that came with the rom (hope this is making sense) to so if the other one had better performance. I have a bunch of back ups, full back ups of roms/nandroid etc but I also have the stock.vzw_root66.tar that I originally downloaded when I 1st rooted the phone...would that be rom that would bring me to stock but still be rooted and unlocked? If so would I have to flash it with Odin because I wiped my phone or just keep it in my external SD card and flash it from there?

So do the factory reset is that done in the settings option as opposed to doing the one that is in the CWM recovery(which is what I did)? Thanks!

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

Ok thanks I get it now so when people wipe data they are just doing a more thorough wipe prior to installing a new rom or something, so there is really no reason to completely wipe? I am on Synergy 1.7 and installed a different kernel, I wanted to go back to the kernel that came with the rom (hope this is making sense) to so if the other one had better performance. I have a bunch of back ups, full back ups of roms/nandroid etc but I also have the stock.vzw_root66.tar that I originally downloaded when I 1st rooted the phone...would that be rom that would bring me to stock but still be rooted and unlocked? If so would I have to flash it with Odin because I wiped my phone or just keep it in my external SD card and flash it from there?

So do the factory reset is that done in the settings option as opposed to doing the one that is in the CWM recovery(which is what I did)? Thanks!

Both a CWM and Stock Recovery reset (data wipe) do essentially the same thing, however stock recovery will usually wipe the "internal SD" storage partition as well, where as CWM does not (thank God). In either case, you'll just be left with a clean version of the CURRENT ROM you're running, with all personal data and settings removed. There is no way to do a wipe to get to a different ROM version, i.e. the original stock ROM isn't saved somewhere on the phone to revert back to. I'm not even sure if the factory reset option in the device settings works if have a custom recovery, such as CWM...it may though, I've never tried it.

Any of the Nandroids you made prior to installing the new kernel will get you back to where you were before (Nandroid backup/restores ROM and Kernel). Reflashing the Root66 would, yes, put you back to the rooted, unlocked, stock...but if all you want to do is revert the kernel, using a recent nandroid may work just fine for you. This is why it's often advised to make a nandroid backup prior to installing any new ROMs or kernels.
*Caution: I'm actually not 100% sure, but I believe flashing firmware in ODIN will delete the contents of your internal storage as well...but sure to backup what you need before taking those steps.

 

[MikeNY]

Both a CWM and Stock Recovery reset (data wipe) do essentially the same thing, however stock recovery will usually wipe the "internal SD" storage partition as well, where as CWM does not (thank God). In either case, you'll just be left with a clean version of the CURRENT ROM you're running, with all personal data and settings removed. There is no way to do a wipe to get to a different ROM version, i.e. the original stock ROM isn't saved somewhere on the phone to revert back to. I'm not even sure if the factory reset option in the device settings works if have a custom recovery, such as CWM...it may though, I've never tried it.

Any of the Nandroids you made prior to installing the new kernel will get you back to where you were before (Nandroid backup/restores ROM and Kernel). Reflashing the Root66 would, yes, put you back to the rooted, unlocked, stock...but if all you want to do is revert the kernel, using a recent nandroid may work just fine for you. This is why it's often advised to make a nandroid backup prior to installing any new ROMs or kernels.
*Caution: I'm actually not 100% sure, but I believe flashing firmware in ODIN will delete the contents of your internal storage as well...but sure to backup what you need before taking those steps.

Great thanks. I still have my first back up after I rooted and unlocked my phone and I saved it on my laptop. This is the back up right before I flashed my first rom. Thanks.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Paul627g]

Yes, Odin will always wipe the device including the internal storage unless someone has gone in and removed certain pieces of the "tar" file to stop this from happening. It can be done but I personally know of only one occasion where a developer did this and its been a good year or two now since I last saw this..

Bottom line.. Unless otherwise stated treat Odin as wiping your device completely when flashing a ROM or (tar) file.

Kernels, custom recoveries & radio's flashed using Odin (if available) will NOT wipe the device.. Only the intended flashed content will be changed.

 

[MikeNY]

Btw can a tar file be flashed from the SD card or only zip files? The root66 is
stock.vzw_root66.tar and not sure if I can flash that.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

 

[davidnc]

Btw can a tar file be flashed from the SD card or only zip files? The root66 is
stock.vzw_root66.tar and not sure if I can flash that.


Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

I am pretty sure that you cant flash the root66stock.vzw_root66.tar from your sdcard.
I think that has to be done though Odin.which I think all .tar files have to been done.

 

[PsYcHoNeWb]

I am pretty sure that you cant flash the root66stock.vzw_root66.tar from your sdcard.
I think that has to be done though Odin.which I think all .tar files have to been done.

Yes. You can't flash Root66 from the SDCard. Only .zips that are are edify compatible will be able to be flashed on CWM/TWRP. This ROM was build for ODIN and thats what you will need to flash it, if you try to flash it with your recovery you will get an error and it won't do anything.

 

[mark kiro]

i just rooted my phone HTC explorer and did a system restore now my phone is not getting started its stuck in that htc screen , what to do please help ?

 

[GSDer]

You'll want to post this in your phone-specific forum - the tools/flashing methods vary between phone vendors/models (and even carriers), so what may be good information for a Samsung Galaxy S III may be totally useless for your phone.
Sorry.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM -0.001 using Tapatalk 2

 

[reponox]

I also have the same problem, when i try to wipe data/factory reset on Clockworkmod, all of my pictures that I took on my phone still appear, even when I don't log onto my google account.
can you tell me what the problem is?

 

[GSDer]

reponox,
Do you have an SDCard installed? It's quite possible that all of your pictures have been stored there - a Factory Reset won't touch the contents of the SDCard.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM 10.2 using Tapatalk 4

 

[paintdrinkingpete]

I also have the same problem, when i try to wipe data/factory reset on Clockworkmod, all of my pictures that I took on my phone still appear, even when I don't log onto my google account.
can you tell me what the problem is?

reponox,
Do you have an SDCard installed? It's quite possible that all of your pictures have been stored there - a Factory Reset won't touch the contents of the SDCard.

Sent from my rooted, debloated, deodexed Sinclair ZX-80 running CM 10.2 using Tapatalk 4

If you do a "factory reset" using ClockworkMod recovery (CWM) it will *NOT* delete the contents of internal storage OR the SD card contents (if present). It only deletes the system directories, but for the most part keeps everything under /storage intact.

If you do a factory reset using stock recovery, it will delete all internal storage, however will not delete the SD card contents.

I know that with TeamWin recovery (TWRP), there are options for including the personal storage partitions when doing a wipe (though they are not included by default), however it's been too long since I've used CWM to recall specifically what options are available and/or how to do a "full" wipe of all partitions including personal storage.

So, to answer your question, it is perfectly normal that after a factory reset in CWM that your pics/media/downloads/etc would still be there, however the OS and apps should be wiped and back to an "out-of-box" state.