Database Users

How to PROPERLY Flash a ROM

Since I have seen alot of individuals within ROM threads stating things such as, "Your ROM bricked my phone." or "I can't get your new ROM to install." decided to make this guide. Hopefully it will solve this issue and help educate people.
What not flasing correctly can do:
1. Cause your phone not to boot
2. Cause Force closes and issues
3. POSSIBLY Brick your phone (though I have not seen an Eris Brick yet)
We must also remember that:
1. The devs of these ROMs are NOT responsible for any damage to your phone
2. The devs spend alot of time with testing to make sure the ROM works.
3. A ROM will NOT always flash over a previous ROM
OK.. So onto the main topic..
assuming you are rooted and using AMON's Recovery. I suggest AMON's because Clockwork has had recent issues. Big thanks to AMON for this!
How to install a ROM properly:
1. Boot into recovery ( with either reboot to recovery option or powerdown and then holding volume up and power )
2. Goto Backup/Restore and do a NAND Back-Up
3. Do a data/factory wipe ( NOTE: if the dev says you can flash over an old version you dont NEED to do this, but if you don't do this and the ROM is not booting then I suggest you restart this process [minus the back-up] and do a data/factory wipe)
4. Do a Dalvik Wipe... 3 times (ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS do this)
5. Flash ROM
6. Reboot and Wait ( after a Dalvik wipe and flashing ROMs first boot can take 3+ minutes to load... BE PATIENT )
More to Come...

If you could, please explain what a Dalvik flash does. Thanks in adavnce, and thanks for this thread. I've never had any issues flashing, but it's nice to see someone explain the basics....

MOS95B said:
If you could, please explain what a Dalvik flash does. Thanks in adavnce, and thanks for this thread. I've never had any issues flashing, but it's nice to see someone explain the basics....
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Click to collapse
"Dalvik cache is a program cache area for the program Dalvik. Dalvik is a java based virtual machine that is the bases for running your programs (the ones that have the .apk extension). In order to make access times faster (because there's not JIT (just in time) compiler installed by default), the Dalvik-cache is the result of Dalvik doing a optimization of the running program." - Taken From Android forums
Basically it analyzes the phone before it boots. Then it sees what apps you have and will use and assigns cache to them. This way they will load quickly and properly.
When you flash a new ROM apps can change, or if you do a data/factory reset those apps are gone. SO wiping the Dalvik allows it to rebuild itself for what YOU are using.
This is also good to do after cleaning out or removing many unused apps from the phone. I usually do it once a week AT LEAST.

With the exception of a 2.1 ROM running apps2sd on an ext partition, is there really any point to wipe Dalvik if you have just done a wipe data/factory reset (which also wipes Dalvik cache)? And what exactly is the point of wiping Dalvik three times - why is once not enough? Is there something wrong with Amon Recovery which prevents a full Dalvik wipe unless you do it more than once?
It certainly doesn't hurt to wipe Dalvik after a wipe data/factory reset, but it should be already wiped.

I'm still fairly new, but I've flashed quite a bit. I didn't know to wipe dalvik x3. that's an interesting bit of info. Any reason why? Thanks

lp4261 said:
I'm still fairly new, but I've flashed quite a bit. I didn't know to wipe dalvik x3. that's an interesting bit of info. Any reason why? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Safety reasons... personally I do factory then dalvik 3x then factory again and dalvik 3x again.
Sent from my ERIS using XDA App

I tried this and now I have a paper weight lol j/k

tazzpatriot said:
I tried this and now I have a paper weight lol j/k
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My plan worked
Sent from my ERIS using XDA App

I believe the reason is that sometimes even after a wipe people have reported residual data in the cache, I personally don't do it three times but I do a wipe, dalvik, dalvik, wipe.
Its not going to hurt anything and it gives me piece of mind.

Delvaris said:
I believe the reason is that sometimes even after a wipe people have reported residual data in the cache, I personally don't do it three times but I do a wipe, dalvik, dalvik, wipe.
Its not going to hurt anything and it gives me piece of mind.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool. Thanks for the good info.

x3? I do once before and once after. Frankly once before has been enough for me... though I suppose being safe has never hurt.

If the dalvik cache still won't clear after 3 times you can piss on your phone. That seems to really help.

in most cases once is enough but like I said, it's not likely to hurt anything to give it a couple of wipes to make sure all the junk data is cleared.

Let me put it this way...
I wont use a public toilet just by seeing it is clean... ill clean it like twice ...
This is why I dalvik 3 times lol
Sent from my ERIS using XDA App

icbeer said:
If the dalvik cache still won't clear after 3 times you can piss on your phone. That seems to really help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried that today.. now my phone wont turn on... any fix?...
Jk
Sent from my ERIS using XDA App

It would be interesting for someone like Amon to comment on the need to wipe data or recovery more than one time. In my opinion, once is enough. I'm 100% confident than wipes #2, #3, and so on are wiping blank space...

hallstevenson said:
It would be interesting for someone like Amon to comment on the need to wipe data or recovery more than one time. In my opinion, once is enough. I'm 100% confident than wipes #2, #3, and so on are wiping blank space...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I personally and others have experienced residual data... so is three too much... maybe... but its safe... two might be a better choice... this guide was made to make sure you have no issues... therefore I said three times for safety... if you want to just do it once... be my guest
Sent from my ERIS using XDA App

At the risk sounding like an idiot, I must ask this:
You mention wiping the Dalvik once a week. When you do this wipe, do you replace it (flash) something over it? Or can you simply wipe then reboot.
Sent from my FroyoEris using XDA App

J&M said:
At the risk sounding like an idiot, I must ask this:
You mention wiping the Dalvik once a week. When you do this wipe, do you replace it (flash) something over it? Or can you simply wipe then reboot.
Sent from my FroyoEris using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, just wipe and boot. After wiping dalvik, it will redo your app tree or configuration if you will, just clears all the current info and rebuilds it fresh.
Great thread, people still need it I guess

workshed said:
Yep, just wipe and boot. After wiping dalvik, it will redo your app tree or configuration if you will, just clears all the current info and rebuilds it fresh.
Great thread, people still need it I guess
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol thanks buddy!
Sent from my ERIS using XDA App

wiping clean and rom changing

Wondering something here...when i wiped my device, i went thru rom manager and did the wipe device thing to wipe all user data to clear out CM7.0.
after that i installed virtuous to try it out, and i noticed in root explorer in the system>app folder, there were CM apk's in there. does virtuous use CM stuff in their roms?
if not, why would they show up even after a full wipe?
Also, has anyone here ever had issues changing from a non sense rom to a sense and back to non sense in a matter of 2 hours?

well, if they are any of the CM specific apps like:
CMparts or CMstats or CMwallpapers (I think there are a few more, can't remember off the top of my head), then it sounds like a case of a "format" that didn't actually format. you wouldn't be the first person to deal with this problem with rom mgr and CWM recovery.. it is known to be finnicky when it comes to formatting partitions (among other things ).
thankfully, we have a tool now that will give you a true, clean format of /system /data and /cache partitions without having to manually run the commands every time (like I know some of us have been doing).
if you are the kind of guy, like myself, who likes to perform a clean wipe between roms, I'd highly recommend downloading that and using it instead of the rom manager/CWM recovery options.

tackleberry said:
Also, has anyone here ever had issues changing from a non sense rom to a sense and back to non sense in a matter of 2 hours?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't answer your first question, but on my old Hero, I swapped from an AOSP ROM to a Sense ROM once almost every hour for a day because I couldn't make up my mind. Nothing bad happened to it and my father is using it now with no ill effects.

pmcqueen said:
well, if they are any of the CM specific apps like:
CMparts or CMstats or CMwallpapers (I think there are a few more, can't remember off the top of my head), then it sounds like a case of a "format" that didn't actually format. you wouldn't be the first person to deal with this problem with rom mgr and CWM recovery.. it is known to be finnicky when it comes to formatting partitions (among other things ).
thankfully, we have a tool now that will give you a true, clean format of /system /data and /cache partitions without having to manually run the commands every time (like I know some of us have been doing).
if you are the kind of guy, like myself, who likes to perform a clean wipe between roms, I'd highly recommend downloading that and using it instead of the rom manager/CWM recovery options.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i saw that program pop up when i was tying in the topic for this post! sounds like a great program wish it was posted a couple of days earlier lol. ill try when i get my device back.
wondering tho if these half ass wipes that CWM does caused my problems. i usually wipe when changing a type of rom, even with CM7 (nightly to RC for example). if i flash a nightly, i usually do a wipe every 2 nightlies.

Not sure what you mean by half ass wipes,lol, but I've never trusted the system wipe to do the job. I always do cache and dalvik along with it.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

enserio said:
Not sure what you mean by half ass wipes,lol, but I've never trusted the system wipe to do the job. I always do cache and dalvik along with it.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do too. half ass saying there is stuff not wiped lol

tackleberry said:
i do too. half ass saying there is stuff not wiped lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah... as amazing as CWM recovery is, the wipe process can be a bit.... lacking sometimes. If you don't use amazinglarry's superg2wipe script, then I would at least manually wipe through recovery before switching roms - this way you can be at least get most of the artifacts and "ghosts" left over from your last rom.

Sorry for bumping this old thread, I came across it while googling.
I've always used "wipe data/factory reset" in CWM. But that only wipes your /data and /cache partition.
Now, i only recently found out "wipe /system" under "mounts" in CWM. Meaning, I had never wiped my /system partition before, while swapping between 50 roms (be it AOSP or Sense). And I never had any problems. But the best way to fully wipe your system, is to do every partition manually + dalvik and battery stats.

Can't run Sense based ROMs

My wife and I both have MyTouch 4Gs and both of our phones exhibit this problem. Whenever I load a Sense based ROM both phones reboot without warning. The last time I had a Sense based ROM on her phone it would continuously reboot when plugged in to the charger. I loaded a Sense based ROM on my phone last night to try out and it would reboot every few minutes. I've probably tried six or seven different Sense based ROMs and the rebooting issue always happens. Both of our phones are currently running a CM7 based ROM and working fine. Anyone else see the same issue?

greenmaze said:
My wife and I both have MyTouch 4Gs and both of our phones exhibit this problem. Whenever I load a Sense based ROM both phones reboot without warning. The last time I had a Sense based ROM on her phone it would continuously reboot when plugged in to the charger. I loaded a Sense based ROM on my phone last night to try out and it would reboot every few minutes. I've probably tried six or seven different Sense based ROMs and the rebooting issue always happens. Both of our phones are currently running a CM7 based ROM and working fine. Anyone else see the same issue?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you verify the MD5SUM post pushing the ROM to the SD Card.

neidlinger said:
Did you verify the MD5SUM post pushing the ROM to the SD Card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 this
And/or are you flashing anithing else right after flashing the rom? If you are, don't. Just flash the from and reboot. Also, make sure you're found a full complete wipe. Wiping data, cache and dalvik before flashing.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium

That problem can also be caused by the phone being overclocked a little too much. Try changing speed and voltage to match stock.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium

neidlinger said:
Did you verify the MD5SUM post pushing the ROM to the SD Card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I verified this.
coupetastic-droid said:
And/or are you flashing anithing else right after flashing the rom? If you are, don't. Just flash the from and reboot. Also, make sure you're found a full complete wipe. Wiping data, cache and dalvik before flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, not flashing anything else. Yes, I wiped data, cache, and dalvik before flashing.
eqjunkie829 said:
That problem can also be caused by the phone being overclocked a little too much. Try changing speed and voltage to match stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what those ROMs were overclocked too, but I'm running CM7 at about 1209MHz right now and have no issues.

greenmaze said:
Yes, I verified this.
No, not flashing anything else. Yes, I wiped data, cache, and dalvik before flashing.
I'm not sure what those ROMs were overclocked too, but I'm running CM7 at about 1209MHz right now and have no issues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to do a complete factory restore via the recovery image. the /system is the most important part to make sure is wiped. And from that statement you're not doing that.

neidlinger said:
You need to do a complete factory restore via the recovery image. the /system is the most important part to make sure is wiped. And from that statement you're not doing that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is a complete factory restore simply finding and flashing a stock image?

greenmaze said:
Is a complete factory restore simply finding and flashing a stock image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. Neidlinger is referring to a full wipe of /system /data and both caches prior to flashing a new rom.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium

greenmaze said:
Is a complete factory restore simply finding and flashing a stock image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
eqjunkie829 said:
No. Neidlinger is referring to a full wipe of /system /data and both caches prior to flashing a new rom.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@EQJUNKIE829 hit the nail on the head. Just flashing a new OS isn't wiping the old one. You need to do a nandroid backup of your current OS, then do a complete factory reset. It WILL NOT wipe the recovery image or the hBoot. Then flash the new OS.

No matter how many threads I say to wipe the bloody system partition in, there is always this problem. Its frustrating.
Help my phone acts weird.
Did you do a full wipe?
Yes
Are you sure? You wiped the system partition?
Umm, I dunno. I think so.
:faceplam: Wipe system, data, cache and dalvik cache and reflash.
That fixed it. Thanks!
Sure thing! :hangs self:

estallings15 said:
No matter how many threads I say to wipe the bloody system partition in, there is always this problem. Its frustrating.
Help my phone acts weird.
Did you do a full wipe?
Yes
Are you sure? You wiped the system partition?
Umm, I dunno. I think so.
:faceplam: Wipe system, data, cache and dalvik cache and reflash.
That fixed it. Thanks!
Sure thing! :hangs self:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This person only has 5 post on XDA you could go a tad lighter.

neidlinger said:
This person only has 5 post on XDA you could go a tad lighter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh no. I wasn't upset with them. Just in general. Its almost ALWAYS a wipe issue, and people just don't get it. I'm just griping period
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Clean wipe before install and check md5um

Looking for super wipe flashable zip

On my S3 and S2 there where a few super wipe zip files that would factory reset, wipe cache and dalvik and clear all kernel settings.
This was handy for flashing roms since you would flash this via recovery and you would be good to go to install your rom
Is there such a script for the S4 cause I have been looking for a while with no luck.
I dont want to use the ones for the S3 in case they are not compatible
Thanks

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Is it really that hard to just wipe manually? It takes a whole 15 seconds of your life!
Sent from my SGH-I337M using xda premium

thatsupnow said:
Is it really that hard to just wipe manually? It takes a whole 15 seconds of your life!
Sent from my SGH-I337M using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not saying it's hard just when you flash a rom a day it adds up. Plus if using twp you simply need to add to the queue and then the rom and your done.
Also it avoids forgetting something for a clean install
Just asking that's all

fidorulz said:
On my S3 and S2 there where a few super wipe zip files that would factory reset, wipe cache and dalvik and clear all kernel settings.
This was handy for flashing roms since you would flash this via recovery and you would be good to go to install your rom
Is there such a script for the S4 cause I have been looking for a while with no luck.
I dont want to use the ones for the S3 in case they are not compatible
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP has a 1 step wipe procedure....slide the bar is all you do. 2 seconds.
sliding that bar does this...
factory reset, wipe cache and dalvik and clear all kernel settings.
That is why you can't find a wipe script, btw, I looked yesterday for you, was going to post a link, never seen one for g4 actually.

TheAxman said:
TWRP has a 1 step wipe procedure....slide the bar is all you do. 2 seconds.
sliding that bar does this...
factory reset, wipe cache and dalvik and clear all kernel settings.
That is why you can't find a wipe script, btw way, I looked yesterday for you, was going to post a link, never seen one for g4 actually.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would love to use TWRP full time but it dosnt support vr themes and I know that will be an issue down the road with ROMs. I don't want to have to follow the zip aline procedure mentioned by teamw every time I download a ROM
http://teamw.in/VRThemes

fidorulz said:
I would love to use TWRP full time but it dosnt support vr themes and I know that will be an issue down the road with ROMs. I don't want to have to follow the zip aline procedure mentioned by teamw every time I download a ROM
http://teamw.in/VRThemes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The VrTheme engine may require that, but the maker of the actual theme, incorporated the fix, I have flashed 2 of these themes already using TWRP.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2313635
So whats the point here?

TheAxman said:
The VrTheme engine may require that, but the maker of the actual theme, incorporated the fix, I have flashed 2 of these themes already using TWRP.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2313635
So whats the point here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it varies from one theme maker to another. If the maker dosnt put the fix then it wont work.Some may make the themes without the fixes.
In any case im just asking if this file exists for use with ALL recovery's
All other samsungs have the script zip file just wanted it for the S4

If anyone Soft-Bricks their Nexus 7

If you did Soft-Brick your new Nexus 7 2013 and you cannot access your Nexus 7 from your computer or a Factory Reset does not help please follow this guide. :crying:
(This is way different than the 0 Internal Storage bug. Go here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2380913 )
Step 1: Download and install Wugs toolkit from here: http://www.wugfresh.com/nrt/
Step 2: Let it download the files it needs and choose what device your have EXACTLY what you have.
Step 3: Install the universal drivers by finding the Initial Setup part which is the big bar at the top. Go to the Step 2 tab and install the Universal Drivers and then let that install. It installs ADB so you can access ADB even in recovery if you could not before.
Step 4: Launch the Advanced Utilities in the bottom left and you will need a new ROM. Go here to get one: http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=2411
gApps: http://goo.im/gapps
Step 5: Once you have those two things go to Flash Zips at the top right and tell it that the file is on the computer. Go to add files and add the ROM then GAPPS and enable to the left that it is a ROM but disable the nandroid backup because you really don't need it at the moment. Also have Wipe Dalvik, Cache, and Data on at the bottom.
Step 6: Confirm it and let it flash. Done! It will take about 5 minutes. Go eat or do something while waiting. It might take less but if you want to be on the safe side just let it run until your device powers on. :victory:
I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANYTHING THAT YOU DO WRONG.
If you have any questions or comments please leave some.:good:

So, use a toolkit to install a ROM. How is this some magical fix?

khaytsus said:
So, use a toolkit to install a ROM. How is this some magical fix?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I never meant for it to be a "magical" fix. It is just a fix for a soft-bricked Nexus which had a rogue ROM and a Factory Reset would not fix nor was ADB working. Maybe someone has this happen and if you have a Backup from lets say Titanium Backup you kind of don't want to Format Data. So if you could just appreciate if I made a tutorial for the less fortunate in Android I am sorry. Skip the thread next time please

WeRSpecialPeople said:
Also have Wipe Dalvik, Cache, and Data on at the bottom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say here to wipe data.
WeRSpecialPeople said:
Maybe someone has this happen and if you have a Backup from lets say Titanium Backup you kind of don't want to Format Data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And here not to format data. Though wipe and format are not the same, the end result to the user is still that the data is gone. So I'm not sure whether you mean for the data gone or not.
WeRSpecialPeople said:
If you have any questions or comments please leave some.:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Usually, the better option is to find the most similar ROM to the one that the data partition was populated with, so there will be a smaller likelihood of problems. For example, an older working nightly of the same ROM. Dirty flashing a random ROM is less likely to be problem-free.
2. Out of curiosity, why a toolkit, especially when flashing a ROM zip from recovery (not even ADB or fastboot) would work just as well?

bananagranola said:
You say here to wipe data.
And here not to format data. Though wipe and format are not the same, the end result to the user is still that the data is gone. So I'm not sure whether you mean for the data gone or not.
1. Usually, the better option is to find the most similar ROM to the one that the data partition was populated with, so there will be a smaller likelihood of problems. For example, an older working nightly of the same ROM. Dirty flashing a random ROM is less likely to be problem-free.
2. Out of curiosity, why a toolkit, especially when flashing a ROM zip from recovery (not even ADB or fastboot) would work just as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright Formatting Data wipes the whole device usually. Wiping the data gets rid of the users apps. Lets say you have a backup in storage/emulated/legacy. It will still be there after you wipe the data.
1. Yes but that is the users choice. I couldn't find a definite stock ROM to the device so I will just let them pick.
2. If you want me too I could make a tutorial using ADB if you really want me too. This was just a 5 minute tutorial on a toolkit and I understand that most people here do not like toolkits but it is a really easy way. Just tell me if you do want me to add ADB tutorial as well and I will. :silly:

WeRSpecialPeople said:
Alright Formatting Data wipes the whole device usually. Wiping the data gets rid of the users apps. Lets say you have a backup in storage/emulated/legacy. It will still be there after you wipe the data.
...
Just tell me if you do want me to add ADB tutorial as well and I will. :silly:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think formatting data wipes the whole device...just the data partition. Same as wiping data. The kernel and ROM in the boot and system partitions respectively stay. Wiping data wipes all user data as well, not just apps. In either case, I don't think sdcard gets wiped.
Since I won't be using it, I personally don't mind what you do with the toolkit, but users need to be aware that it's not the most problem-free method.

bananagranola said:
I don't think formatting data wipes the whole device...just the data partition. Same as wiping data. The kernel and ROM in the boot and system partitions respectively stay. Wiping data wipes all user data as well, not just apps. In either case, I don't think sdcard gets wiped.
Since I won't be using it, I personally don't mind what you do with the toolkit, but users need to be aware that it's not the most problem-free method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sdcard is on /data so if you wipe data (including factory reset) the sdcard is 'formatted'.

khaytsus said:
Sdcard is on /data so if you wipe data (including factory reset) the sdcard is 'formatted'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does it now...how odd. Has it always worked like that on every device? On my Galaxy Nexus, TWRP specifically ignores the sdcard mount point.
EDIT: okay, I think I understand the confusion. I meant that wiping data/factory resetting from recovery doesn't wipe sdcard. I know that doing so from Android does.