Database Users

Google Books!

I downloaded Google Books today just to play around with it and now I cannot uninstall it. I don't want to root my phone just to get rid of it. Will a hard reset help?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

Not sure bout a hard reset. When i got my phone, this was already preinstalled. Your phone might think its a system app and not clear after a hard reset.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

Hmm.. that sucks.
By the way, is there any difference between a factory reset done via the settings menu and the hard reset done by booting into the special menu?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

athani said:
I downloaded Google Books today just to play around with it and now I cannot uninstall it. I don't want to root my phone just to get rid of it. Will a hard reset help?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All Nexus Ss come with Google Books preinstalled after the 2.3.1 or 2.3.2 ota. So nothing can remove it unless you root. Why so annoyed by it? you never noticed it being installed on the phone before and it doesn't take any resources if you disable books syncing from Accounts and Sync under the system settings.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

My phone did not have google books preinstalled. I installed it yesterday just to see what it was and now I'm stuck with it.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

Pretty sure it's still the same as it use to be
Soft reset is like rebooting
Hard reset is like unplugging something while its on( removing battery without turning phone off first).
Factory rest wipes it to stock, or original rom that you may have flashed. All setting revert to default.
Don't quote me though
athani said:
Hmm.. that sucks.
By the way, is there any difference between a factory reset done via the settings menu and the hard reset done by booting into the special menu?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

pierre1321 said:
Pretty sure it's still the same as it use to be
Soft reset is like rebooting
Hard reset is like unplugging something while its on( removing battery without turning phone off first).
Factory rest wipes it to stock, or original rom that you may have flashed. All setting revert to default.
Don't quote me though
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I wanted to know if there is any difference between the two methods of performing a factory reset -
1. Settings> Privacy> Factory Data Reset
2. Power off phone. Power on while pressing the volume up button. And then reset.
Does the latter method perform a "deeper" reset?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

Its a preference thing.
If I'm on stock, prolly do it through settings.
Or through bootloader if i can't get it to boot.
If rooted and unlocked and custom rom, i do it through recovery. Cause i can flash and clear stuff in 1 shot.
athani said:
Actually, I wanted to know if there is any difference between the two methods of performing a factory reset -
1. Settings> Privacy> Factory Data Reset
2. Power off phone. Power on while pressing the volume up button. And then reset.
Does the latter method perform a "deeper" reset?
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

I want to "root" my phone only for the purpose of getting rid of some pre-installed stuff. I do not want to have a custon ROM, at least not now.
I've seen this thread which explains rooting the Nexus S, giving 4 steps in which to do it.
At what step can I stop if I want just a simple root as stated above? Or will I have to go through the whole process?
Will the procedure erase anything from my phone? If yes, how do I backup?

I believe both reset methods do the same thing, which is format the /data partition (and maybe a bit more?).

matt2053 said:
I believe both reset methods do the same thing, which is format the /data partition (and maybe a bit more?).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply but I'm just as clueless as before.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

athani said:
I want to "root" my phone only for the purpose of getting rid of some pre-installed stuff. I do not want to have a custon ROM, at least not now.
I've seen this thread which explains rooting the Nexus S, giving 4 steps in which to do it.
At what step can I stop if I want just a simple root as stated above? Or will I have to go through the whole process?
Will the procedure erase anything from my phone? If yes, how do I backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The process will wipe your data, and you need to do the whole thing.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I just checked, it only takes up 4M, which is nothing. I wouldn't worry about it so much.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

Wipe all data

Simple question, I have pictures videos and back ups that don't want deleted when I do a factory reset, do I need to back it up on my PC or????
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Depends on what you are talking about if you mean while in a custom recovery then no you don't but if you are unlocking your boot loader or you are using a stock in rooted ROM and are just pressing factory reset from settings then yes you should back up
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

dislplin01 said:
Depends on what you are talking about if you mean while in a custom recovery then no you don't but if you are unlocking your boot loader or you are using a stock in rooted ROM and are just pressing factory reset from settings then yes you should back up
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on stock ROM with cwm recovery the latest, so no I shouldn't?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

I would actually LIKE to delete everything when I install a new rom. I have used all the wipe data setting i could find in recovery and I always end up with a bunch of stuff left from the previous rom. Downloads etc.
Is there something I am missing?

droidgenius said:
I'm on stock ROM with cwm recovery the latest, so no I shouldn't?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you talking about the factory reset within Jelly Bean? If so, then that wipes everything as far as I know.
jarayn said:
I would actually LIKE to delete everything when I install a new rom. I have used all the wipe data setting i could find in recovery and I always end up with a bunch of stuff left from the previous rom. Downloads etc.
Is there something I am missing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most (all?) custom recoveries should have some type of option to format sdcard.

In CWM, the wipe data/factory reset option will *not* wipe your virtual sdcard.
You can do a wipe in recovery, and the /sdcard partition will remain intact. I was worried about this before unlocking my bootloader too
However when you unlock your bootloader *all* of your user data will be wiped from your tablet
This includes your apps, setup, homescreens, sdcard, photos. It will be like having a brand new tablet
The downloads folder is on your sdcard. You may be able to edit the updater script or something to wipe the virtual sdcard directory when you flash a rom

markj338 said:
In CWM, the wipe data/factory reset option will *not* wipe your virtual sdcard.
You can do a wipe in recovery, and the /sdcard partition will remain intact. I was worried about this before unlocking my bootloader too
However when you unlock your bootloader *all* of your user data will be wiped from your tablet
This includes your apps, setup, homescreens, sdcard, photos. It will be like having a brand new tablet
The downloads folder is on your sdcard. You may be able to edit the updater script or something to wipe the virtual sdcard directory when you flash a rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok cool thanks guys, and I am doing a factory reset in CWM, sorry prob should of thought that threw in the original post. Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Thanks from me also.
I did wonder why there was always stuff left over. I guess in some ways its handy. It just feels like doing an in place upgrade of windows rather than a clean install when theres old data still there.

if u wipe all.u got another 25$ from play store?

swisstourist said:
if u wipe all.u got another 25$ from play store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LOL no, otherwise it would be too easy
You also cannot have the $25 credit twice, as in if you bought 2 N7's using the same google account
I had 2 because one was faulty and I only got 1 gift card
Wiping your tablet will not lose your $25 though, thats stored on your google account. You ca use it with any android device hooked up to the same google account.

Back again.
I know this is sort of the reverse of the OP but at least its related.
If the rom zip is on the sd card then how can you format it?
Or do you just do regular wipe, install then format sd?
I have Clockwork Mod Recovery 6
Is this written out somewhere else?

Yes, just do the regular wipes first, install the ROM, and then format the sdcard.

swisstourist said:
if u wipe all.u got another 25$ from play store?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wish
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

markj338 said:
LOL no, otherwise it would be too easy
You also cannot have the $25 credit twice, as in if you bought 2 N7's using the same google account
I had 2 because one was faulty and I only got 1 gift card
Wiping your tablet will not lose your $25 though, thats stored on your google account. You ca use it with any android device hooked up to the same google account.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey I'm gonna replace my nexus 7 tablet (warenty) anyway to get a second 25$ ?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

jamesst20 said:
Hey I'm gonna replace my nexus 7 tablet (warenty) anyway to get a second 25$ ?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You would need to do the initial sign in with an account that hasn't already received the credit.

Thanks! I will!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

[Solved]Factory Data Reset.

Here's the deal. I want to factory reset my nexus so I can remove the unlock pin. Question is I can't seem to really get an answer. If I do the factory data reset from the menu will I lose my data from the emulated SD card. According to the picture. I will, but I looked this up and according to some website and other xda members. I won't. Since I've only had this phone for about a month now and this is the first phone that I've had with a SD slot. I honestly don't know what will happen if I hit that reset button.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Back up your storage to a computer and see what happens. They only way I've been able to erase my data was formatting in recovery or locking then unlocking the bootloader.
Sent from a neXus device

FeintDoxx said:
Here's the deal. I want to factory reset my nexus so I can remove the unlock pin. Question is I can't seem to really get an answer. If I do the factory data reset from the menu will I lose my data from the emulated SD card. According to the picture. I will, but I looked this up and according to some website and other xda members. I won't. Since I've only had this phone for about a month now and this is the first phone that I've had with a SD slot. I honestly don't know what will happen if I hit that reset button.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes a factory reset will wipe all user data on the phone if done from settings/backup and restore/reset device. Backup files first.

The nexus 4 doesn't have an SD card slot. You will lose all data unless you've made a backup in recovery or on your computer. And yes, it will wipe the /sdcard folder.

Holcomb227 said:
The nexus 4 doesn't have an SD card slot. You will lose all data unless you've made a backup in recovery or on your computer. And yes, it will wipe the /sdcard folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I know sorry meant without just didn't notice it and yeah I figured so. Guess I'll have to wait a bit before I do a reset then.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

But you know, i have done factory resets, wiped dalvic nd cache and unlocking bootloader but evrytime i so that, the files in my internal sd card were all still there and never was deleted.
So im quite confused as well..
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

vinz_bangiz said:
But you know, i have done factory resets, wiped dalvic nd cache and unlocking bootloader but evrytime i so that, the files in my internal sd card were all still there and never was deleted.
So im quite confused as well..
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you factory reset in stock recovery it wipes the lot

vinz_bangiz said:
But you know, i have done factory resets, wiped dalvic nd cache and unlocking bootloader but evrytime i so that, the files in my internal sd card were all still there and never was deleted.
So im quite confused as well..
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah this is what I mean. I keep on getting different answers.
But I'll just back things up on a PC and then attempt to factory reset.
EddyOS said:
If you factory reset in stock recovery it wipes the lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Doing a factory reset in stock recovery will wipe everything
Doing a factory reset in custom recovery will not wipe SD context
Unlocking the bootloader and rebooting will wipe everything
Unlocking the bootloader and flashing a custom recovery then wipe cache and reboot will not wipe SD context
Sent from my Nexus 4

spaceman860 said:
Doing a factory reset in stock recovery will wipe everything
Doing a factory reset in custom recovery will not wipe SD context
Unlocking the bootloader and rebooting will wipe everything
Unlocking the bootloader and flashing a custom recovery then wipe cache and reboot will not wipe SD context
Sent from my Nexus 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Although.not really sure which one of these I can use to reset my unlock pin.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Just go to security settings and choose a different lock style !!! Unless you have forgot your pin ??
What recovery are you using ?
I have no issues doing.........
Go to settings and backup and reset option, choose the factory data reset.
Now this will wipe your user data and reset your ROM to how it was originally. This does NOT touch your emulated sdcard partition. Basically it resets the ROM and removes all user apps etc.
You can always use TB to back up all user apps 1st then just restore again after. ( obviously you will have to install TB again before you can restore but all data will remain on your " sdcard".
Hope this helps.
Mmmmm actually I am using twrp so maybe I got mistaken as I don't know how it handles on a stock recovery as it does boot into twrp briefly when I do this.
I've done this many times and never lost my sdcard files though.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

Do you have an exchange account connected to your phone? Like an outlook email from work or something? A pw is required if you have that connected.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Teo032 said:
Do you have an exchange account connected to your phone? Like an outlook email from work or something? A pw is required if you have that connected.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have my other gmail synced on the stock email app. Uhm I'll try to delete my accounts but as you see in the last page. The picture I posted. "No Pin" is greyed out. Its odd. Never had this happen to me.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

slymobi said:
Just go to security settings and choose a different lock style !!! Unless you have forgot your pin ??
What recovery are you using ?
I have no issues doing.........
Go to settings and backup and reset option, choose the factory data reset.
Now this will wipe your user data and reset your ROM to how it was originally. This does NOT touch your emulated sdcard partition. Basically it resets the ROM and removes all user apps etc.
You can always use TB to back up all user apps 1st then just restore again after. ( obviously you will have to install TB again before you can restore but all data will remain on your " sdcard".
Hope this helps.
Mmmmm actually I am using twrp so maybe I got mistaken as I don't know how it handles on a stock recovery as it does boot into twrp briefly when I do this.
I've done this many times and never lost my sdcard files though.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have CWM Touch Recovery. Never tried TWRP.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

Well I'm not sure how the system handles a factory data reset with cwm but I know for sure that using the factory data reset from phone settings does not wipe your internal "SD card" when using twrp. Now be aware I'm not referring to any wipes from recovery,its the wipe from the phone settings in backup and reset.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

slymobi said:
Well I'm not sure how the system handles a factory data reset with cwm but I know for sure that using the factory data reset from phone settings does not wipe your internal "SD card" when using twrp. Now be aware I'm not referring to any wipes from recovery,its the wipe from the phone settings in backup and reset.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thanks guys for all the help! I think this thread is done. I flashed TWRP recovery and I Factory Reset in there and it wiped everything that I needed. I got rid of the lock screen and I also found out that TWRP is a pretty amazing recovery. In the end I kept all my data. Just restored apps by Titanium BackUp. Thanks!:thumbup:
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium

[RESOLVED] Booting goes to black screen!

Okay, so I was listening to a YouTube video via Popup Browser BETA. When the song finished, I tried closing the window, but it wouldn't let me interact with the window. Not sure why. I just figured since the app was in beta it was just confused, so I went to the settings->running applications->I force closed the app. But for some reason, the little window still wouldn't go away. So I decided to reboot my device. Bad idea, apparently...
Now whenever I boot up my phone it'll vibrate, display the Google logo for a few seconds, and then... it goes to a blank black screen. Not a clue why. I've tried:
- Leaving it to charge and rebooting
- Leaving it in the blank black screen
- Booting into recovery, then trying to reboot the device from there
- Clearing cache partition
Nothing works. I still can't boot up my phone again.
I'm running Slimbean 4.2.1 (not the latest version). There really isn't anything that might have triggered this. I can still charge my phone (the charging animation still occurs) and I can still go into CWM Recovery. I'd really rather not have to install a new ROM or anything... but if I have to, is there a way to extract the data I have on my phone now while in recovery or something?
Any suggestions?
EDIT: This has been FIXED. Moderators, if you see this, you can close this thread. If anyone else has this problem, try reflashing your current version of your ROM, that's how I fixed mine. I'm not responsible for damage to your device.

Why haven't you tried reflashing your rom without wiping data?
Sent from my iPad 4

mitchdickson said:
Why haven't you tried reflashing your rom without wiping data?
Sent from my iPad 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I could try that.. but isn't there a chance it'll corrupt the data for certain apps or no? I'd just really rather not loose all of that.

Surpass said:
I could try that.. but isn't there a chance it'll corrupt the data for certain apps or no? I'd just really rather not loose all of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not going to hurt anything. Make a CWM backup of your data if you want.
Sent from my iPad 4

Surpass said:
I could try that.. but isn't there a chance it'll corrupt the data for certain apps or no? I'd just really rather not loose all of that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No way of corrupting your data, as long as you don't select to wipe data partition or data is already corrupted. But this is strange that your phone gone crazy like this. Try to reflash your rom without wiping data and see if your phone will boot up
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

mitchdickson said:
It's not going to hurt anything. Make a CWM backup of your data if you want.
Sent from my iPad 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've not got enough free space on my phone I don't think (it's only 16GB, I got about 2GB free).
Unless I'm mistaken the backup will take more than that, yes? Considering I've got a few games apps that probably equate to about 4GB.

gallardo5 said:
No way of corrupting your data, as long as you don't select to wipe data partition or data is already corrupted. But this is strange that your phone gone crazy like this. Try to reflash your rom without wiping data and see if your phone will boot up
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Should I reflash with a newer version of the ROM or should I reflash the old one that I'm running?
EDIT: Woops sorry about double post.

Surpass said:
Should I reflash with a newer version of the ROM or should I reflash the old one that I'm running?
EDIT: Woops sorry about double post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reflash the same version you were running before this accident, as the newest version requires clean flash. If you want to run the latest version and have your data back, reflash the same version you were running before, then backup your data, wipe phone, flash the latest version and restore your data
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

gallardo5 said:
Reflash the same version you were running before this accident, as the newest version requires clean flash. If you want to run the latest version and have your data back, reflash the same version you were running before, then backup your data, wipe phone, flash the latest version and restore your data
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay I'll give that a go, thanks for the help and I'll report back my results. :good:
EDIT: Tried downloading the Zip from their site and now it's saying I've got to log in, but no place to register... grr. I might be a bit longer..

Surpass said:
Okay I'll give that a go, thanks for the help and I'll report back my results. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck then and if you will have any problem, just write here and don't forget to quote my post so I will get an email notification
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

gallardo5 said:
Good luck then and if you will have any problem, just write here and don't forget to quote my post so I will get an email notification
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOO! Thanks a lot! Booted up perfectly, and no loss of data or anything like that. Only odd things is it seems to have changed my DPI... but I can change that easily so it's not really a bother. It also made me have to update the Virus Definitions on Avast!, not sure why either.
I shall now proceed to thank all of your posts.

Surpass said:
WOO! Thanks a lot! Booted up perfectly, and no loss of data or anything like that. Only odd things is it seems to have changed my DPI... but I can change that easily so it's not really a bother. It also made me have to update the Virus Definitions on Avast!, not sure why either.
I shall now proceed to thank all of your posts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great to hear it worked for you now comes the best part, flashing the latest rom
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

gallardo5 said:
Great to hear it worked for you now comes the best part, flashing the latest rom
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes either that or perhaps switch to a new one, I've been with semi-stock Android for quite a while now I'm really liking the port of MIUI V5...

CWM doubt

Hey Guys, I have a Nexus 4 running on stock 4.3 rooted.
I copied the CM 11 M Snapshot files and using CWM wiped everything. as it turns out it also wiped my sd ext. Thankfully I had a backup and got all my data back. Is there a way so that it doesnt wipe the Sd ext? I had a Nexus S before this and it didn't get wiped everytime I flash :crying:

Anybody?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

until you learn to post sensible comments no one can help you. what you have written may be the biggest load of nonsense i've ever read. do you even know what you are asking?

crozbomb said:
until you learn to post sensible comments no one can help you. what you have written may be the biggest load of nonsense i've ever read. do you even know what you are asking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I understand his question just fine...
There is no "sd ext" on the current Nexus devices. It is simply called sdcard. The sdcard shouldn't be erased unless you format /data, because /sdcard is located at /data/media. In the future, just use factory reset in recovery and the sdcard won't be wiped.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

I did the factory reset. But my entire media also got wiped. Although it doesn't happen with twrp. I guess I'll stick with twrp then. Thanks anyhow.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

crozbomb said:
until you learn to post sensible comments no one can help you. what you have written may be the biggest load of nonsense i've ever read. do you even know what you are asking?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just because you don't understand, doesn't mean nobody else did. My words make perfect sense to anyone who can read English and knows a thing or two about android development.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

kkricardokaka95 said:
I did the factory reset. But my entire media also got wiped. Although it doesn't happen with twrp. I guess I'll stick with twrp then. Thanks anyhow.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Impossible, wipe data/factory reset doesn't format sdcard. Under mounts/storage (if i remember right) you can just delete media files.

gt-kingz said:
Impossible, wipe data/factory reset doesn't format sdcard. Under mounts/storage (if i remember right) you can just delete media files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seemed odd to me too. I guess its a problem with CWM Touch? I'll try to get screenshots if I can
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk