Hey guys, just a quick question, do I have to wipe userdata when installing a new ROM? Should I install a rom and hope it works? And then suffer the consequences? I'm running stock with Trinity kernel, trying to go to latest cm 10 or whatever it is.
Thanks
-Micro
You can get away with over-flashing (or "dirty flashing") very closely related ROMs.
For instance if you were testing CM nightlies from night to night.
In general though it is not a good idea, and even in the case of closely-related ROMs there really are no guarantees. It is certainly not a good idea for a random pairing of before/after ROMs.
BTW the "wipe" that you want is a wipe of /data that clears everything but /data/media (so the "/sdcard" doesn't get nuked), plus a wipe of /cache. In TWRP this is called "factory reset"; I'm not sure what it is called by CWM (note that in the stock recoveries all of /data gets wiped by the "factory reset", so the term means slightly different things in different contexts)
good luck
Hey thanks a lot. Did not know it would't erase the "sdcard" so I installed cwm cm and trinity kernel. Then reinstalled all my apps with titanium. Okay one more question. How exactly do I install cm and trinity kernel? Here's how I did it. I went into ROM manger, downloaded cm, added gapps and then clicked the add zip and selected trinity kernel.. Is this right? Does it matter what order you go in? How would I get rid of trinity kernel? If I were to get rid of trinity kernel, I would have to install a different kernel right? Cm doesn't come with a kernel since its just a ROM right? Also does the cm 10 come with a boot animation? Since I installed trinity second, I have trinity boot animation..
Thanks again!
-Micro
Whew that's a lot of questions - I'll answer a few but not all. (I don't ever use ROM manager.)
By convention, all dev ROMs come with a boot image (which contains a kernel and ram disk), so if you combine an arbitrary ROM and kernel, the kernel needs to be flashed after the ROM.
If you don't like that kernel and want to revert to the one the comes with the ROM, just dirty-flash the ROM again. (This is an example where dirty-flashing should be completely safe - it's the identical ROM! /system won't change even though it is being flashed... unless you customized the ROM since you installed it. FYI some root-aware apps & even TiBu can do this depending how you use it... so dirty-flashing could bust things in that circumstance).
An even safer method would be to get a nandroid backup of the ROM before you flash the kernel mod. TWRP allows you to the option to restore only individual partitions, and this would allow you to restore only the boot partition. I'm not sure if you have this kind of flexibility in CWM or ROM manager.
Backups give you freedom and confidence. Make sure you are making them, and getting copies of them off the tablet, as it is easy to make a mistake and accidentally wipe all of /data including the pseudo-SD card.
Related
Apologies if this question is fundamentally stupid, I am a noob and have never tried modifying a ROM.
My question is if I can copy a CWM kernel zip file contents into a CWM ROM zip file and flash my phone without breaking / bricking my phone.
Background Info
I typically try and run the latest leaked stock ROM.
At the moment it is EH17.
I swap out the kernel for the plus kernel so that I can run ext4
I'm looking to start trying out some themes
I recently watched qbking77's video on how to uninstall a theme
Its essentially just just re-flash your CWM ROM
I would like to be able to flash without having to swap file systems every time.
Will extracting the ROM zip, overwriting files with kernel zip contents, rezipping, and flashing my phone cause problems?
Thanks for any help you can offer
Hmm, if you are just running a stock rom, you dont need to uninstall anything. You can just download a EH17 theme (or whatever type of ROM you are on), boot into CWM, wipe cashe and dalvik cashe 3 times each and then choose install from sdcard and choose the theme you want to flash.
Now if you want to try another one after that, do the same process. Wiping the cashes and flashing the theme is all you need to do.
Hello
I have Motorola Bravo, everything stock 2.2.1 ROM
but I want to install custom ROMs and I have one question: Does Motorola Bravo's bootloader need unlock? I ask that, because I also have Motorola Atrix 4G and I had to unlock it's bootloader to install Cm7
Enigmavision said:
Hello
I have Motorola Bravo, everything stock 2.2.1 ROM
but I want to install custom ROMs and I have one question: Does Motorola Bravo's bootloader need unlock? I ask that, because I also have Motorola Atrix 4G and I had to unlock it's bootloader to install Cm7
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, just install 2nd-init recovery (search the Defy Forums\CM7 threads here) then flash away . Our bootloader is locked up like a con in a SuperMax with a triple life sentence. I'm getting ready for work so I don't have time to hotlink.
skeevy420 said:
No, just install 2nd-init recovery (search the Defy Forums\CM7 threads here) then flash away . Our bootloader is locked up like a con in a SuperMax with a triple life sentence. I'm getting ready for work so I don't have time to hotlink.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here you go: https://www.box.com/shared/p07z8hangnqxydducrhr.
Edit: on a side note, I've had issues restoring my JB nand from the cm7 recovery. I get "error restoring system" in the middle of a nand restore. It also completely screws up mounts and the only thing I can do is install a ROM from scratch. The md5 checks out as well. Any ideas?
Dr. Orange said:
Here you go: https://www.box.com/shared/p07z8hangnqxydducrhr.
Edit: on a side note, I've had issues restoring my JB nand from the cm7 recovery. I get "error restoring system" in the middle of a nand restore. It also completely screws up mounts and the only thing I can do is install a ROM from scratch. The md5 checks out as well. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JB has a newer recovery. Install a JB rom then restore the nand of the JB backup.
Flash JB rom (cache\data wipes don't matter since you won't be booting into the system)
Reboot directly into recovery (don't let the system boot up, even once)
Restore JB Backup as usual
This is actually a common problem with Defy users running older MS2 roms trying to flash JB -- the different recovery versions can be a pita to deal with sometimes; but its usually fixed by flashing a rom with a compatible recovery version then restoring the nand afterwards.
While I won't go into the full details, you can also take the recovery from a JB rom and a GB rom and make them into a flashable zips -- basically open the rom's zip and delete all the /system folders except /system/bootmenu and edit the rom's updater-script to only set permissions to /system/bootmenu. It would also be a good idea to add in ramdisk backup commands as well (the init.rc files under 2nd-init and 2nd-boot) since they can change from rom to rom. Once all that's done you'll be able to flash the required recovery version for the nand you intend to restore or flash the JB recovery after flashing any rom and have an up-to-date recovery with an older rom. If you use multiboot it would be a good idea to merge it into your new recovery zip as well.
/About to test a CM7 port with many tweaks -- if it boots I'll start adding in some market apps and finish it up later today . Then its off to start updating PA with a Custom Kernel . I may have to drop MS2 PA support if the MS2's Custom Kernel differences makes it incompatible with the Defy base
skeevy420 said:
JB has a newer recovery. Install a JB rom then restore the nand of the JB backup.
Flash JB rom (cache\data wipes don't matter since you won't be booting into the system)
Reboot directly into recovery (don't let the system boot up, even once)
Restore JB Backup as usual
This is actually a common problem with Defy users running older MS2 roms trying to flash JB -- the different recovery versions can be a pita to deal with sometimes; but its usually fixed by flashing a rom with a compatible recovery version then restoring the nand afterwards.
While I won't go into the full details, you can also take the recovery from a JB rom and a GB rom and make them into a flashable zips -- basically open the rom's zip and delete all the /system folders except /system/bootmenu and edit the rom's updater-script to only set permissions to /system/bootmenu. It would also be a good idea to add in ramdisk backup commands as well (the init.rc files under 2nd-init and 2nd-boot) since they can change from rom to rom. Once all that's done you'll be able to flash the required recovery version for the nand you intend to restore or flash the JB recovery after flashing any rom and have an up-to-date recovery with an older rom. If you use multiboot it would be a good idea to merge it into your new recovery zip as well.
/About to test a CM7 port with many tweaks -- if it boots I'll start adding in some market apps and finish it up later today . Then its off to start updating PA with a Custom Kernel . I may have to drop MS2 PA support if the MS2's Custom Kernel differences makes it incompatible with the Defy base
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep that makes sense. Thanks for the help as always skeevy.
*edit* Same issue.
Restoring system...
Error while restoring /system!
Problem while restoring system!
Maybe I didn't reboot correctly...bad backup maybe? I've restored this backup before with no problems. : \
*edit again* I goofed. Your instructions worked fine.
in teamwin official website i couldn't find twrp recovery support for motorola bravo, however motorola defy was in the list to get twrp recovery.
does TWRP for defy work on bravo? or we need a different for bravo? i love that recovery ...can some body help me install that on my bravo???
hiandro said:
in teamwin official website i couldn't find twrp recovery support for motorola bravo, however motorola defy was in the list to get twrp recovery.
does TWRP for defy work on bravo? or we need a different for bravo? i love that recovery ...can some body help me install that on my bravo???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Defy TWRP works on the Bravo, but its only up to version 2.1 and can't install large Aroma roms (WR, Pikachu, etc). Your better off reading the thread over at Defy Development. Its neat and works, but our custom CWM 5 is the best for us in terms of reliability and stability.
skeevy420 said:
The Defy TWRP works on the Bravo, but its only up to version 2.1 and can't install large Aroma roms (WR, Pikachu, etc). Your better off reading the thread over at Defy Development. Its neat and works, but our custom CWM 5 is the best for us in terms of reliability and stability.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can u give me link to download latest CWM please.
hiandro said:
can u give me link to download latest CWM please.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its installed be default with CM10 or PA. The newer the rom, the newer the recovery.
You can copy the zip/system/bootmenu/.... to other roms to get the touch ui in the bootmenu, just don't overwrite your current roms init scripts....and use a PRE 2nd Kernel zip when porting the bootmenu to non custom kernel roms. This isn't something I'd advise doing cause if you don't know what your fully doing you can easily put yourself in a position to flash the sbf. I sbf'd 3 times adding the JB Touch bootmenu to CM7.
skeevy420 said:
Its installed be default with CM10 or PA. The newer the rom, the newer the recovery.
You can copy the zip/system/bootmenu/.... to other roms to get the touch ui in the bootmenu, just don't overwrite your current roms init scripts....and use a PRE 2nd Kernel zip when porting the bootmenu to non custom kernel roms. This isn't something I'd advise doing cause if you don't know what your fully doing you can easily put yourself in a position to flash the sbf. I sbf'd 3 times adding the JB Touch bootmenu to CM7.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I installed cm10 then after I went to stable recovery and I wipe data/factory reset and then wipe cache and again wipe dalvik cache,and then I went to install zip from SD card and then choose mokee and flashed the zip.and when I reboot the phone it got stuck at Motorola red logo. again i boot into recovery (it was different, which mokee installed maybe)and when i wipe data and cache it said something like this:can't mount E/cache/recovery/log .and then i went to backup and restore and restored my cm10 backup and it only restored system(no data) why did this happen did I did something wrong?? or is there problem in recovery?? please tell me about this.
hiandro said:
I installed cm10 then after I went to stable recovery and I wipe data/factory reset and then wipe cache and again wipe dalvik cache,and then I went to install zip from SD card and then choose mokee and flashed the zip.and when I reboot the phone it got stuck at Motorola red logo. again i boot into recovery (it was different, which mokee installed maybe)and when i wipe data and cache it said something like this:can't mount E/cache/recovery/log .and then i went to backup and restore and restored my cm10 backup and it only restored system(no data) why did this happen did I did something wrong?? or is there problem in recovery?? please tell me about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a couple of ideas, but I'd be guessing with all of them. Probably just an error from CM10 using a newer recovery than Mokee. Since CM10's /system was restored, so was its bootmenu\recovery -- try doing a full restore now that you're using the same recovery that backed it up .
Crap like this is why we need an unlocked bootloader, or even just a place to hide a custom recovery -- with every rom you flash, your recovery changes and bad things can\have happened. While its nowhere as bad as it once was, problems like yours still occur from time to time. Its the same reason that there's so many posts with people having problems from using BandroidX Recovery -- its a very old CWM based recovery that uses different formats than whats used now (can't even install newer roms with it). Old and new don't usually play nicely with us .
skeevy420 said:
I have a couple of ideas, but I'd be guessing with all of them. Probably just an error from CM10 using a newer recovery than Mokee. Since CM10's /system was restored, so was its bootmenu\recovery -- try doing a full restore now that you're using the same recovery that backed it up .
Crap like this is why we need an unlocked bootloader, or even just a place to hide a custom recovery -- with every rom you flash, your recovery changes and bad things can\have happened. While its nowhere as bad as it once was, problems like yours still occur from time to time. Its the same reason that there's so many posts with people having problems from using BandroidX Recovery -- its a very old CWM based recovery that uses different formats than whats used now (can't even install newer roms with it). Old and new don't usually play nicely with us .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i tried to restore backup using cm10 recovery and although it said cant restore .android.secure something like that(iam not quite sure) it restored system as well as data.
The thing is i like mokee os .its speed, clean and clear... ecetra but it is not jelly bean.can't we have a cm10 tweaked and modified for bravo.of course I love your PA jelly bean there are lots of tablet tweaks can you also add some other functions like in pimp my rom.
And thanks man for answering my queries
On my nexus 7 8gb model I tried flashing mmuzzyrom for grouper. No success. So I thought it was twrp that was causing the problem, so I flashed cwm and tried that. Also not successful. So then I thought it might be the roms, so I tried to flash cyanogenmod nightly and it didn't work. I noticed when I try to flash a rom it doesn't mount /system or anything but when I flash gapps it mounts /system and I think it actually works. Any ideas? Thanks
Did you run factory reset in recovery before flashing the rom?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Pirateghost said:
Did you run factory reset in recovery before flashing the rom?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Won't that delete the rom? And my nandroid?
skiman10 said:
Won't that delete the rom? And my nandroid?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no. in fact you have to run factory reset in your custom recovery (CWM or TWRP) before flashing any rom....otherwise you get EXACTLY what is happening to you now. This is a well documented thing when flashing roms.
running FACTORY RESET in a custom recovery will wipe everything but /data/media where your 'sdcard' resides
Pirateghost said:
no. in fact you have to run factory reset in your custom recovery (CWM or TWRP) before flashing any rom....otherwise you get EXACTLY what is happening to you now. This is a well documented thing when flashing roms.
running FACTORY RESET in a custom recovery will wipe everything but /data/media where your 'sdcard' resides
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ah I get it now, actually I was trying to perform a dirty flash but I guess that isn't gonna work
Well thanks for your help
if you want your new rom to be performing well, its best NOT to do a dirty flash. some roms you can dirty flash between, but most require a factory reset.
you can almost ALWAYS do a dirty flash when upgrading from one version of the same custom rom to the next, but completely different custom roms will require a reset
Pirateghost said:
if you want your new rom to be performing well, its best NOT to do a dirty flash. some roms you can dirty flash between, but most require a factory reset.
you can almost ALWAYS do a dirty flash when upgrading from one version of the same custom rom to the next, but completely different custom roms will require a reset
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks for that info ill see what happens.
I did it!
Thanks so much! I'm a frickin idiot for thinking I could dirty flash.
skiman10 said:
Thanks so much! I'm a frickin idiot for thinking I could dirty flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get away with it when the ROM you are coming from is quite closely related to the ROM you are going to. For instance, if you were flashing CM 10.1 nightlies over the course of a few weeks. But in general, it's not really a great idea - it is a terrible idea for unrelated ROMs.
The best practice is probably to use something like TiBu or Carbon, and ONLY back up market apps and their data - never pre-installed system apps (e.g. gapps). For home screens, you can just use a launcher that allows backup/restores of it's home screen configurations.
Even in this case, you can still run into UID issues restoring market apps & data - it appears that the Android boot process assigns UIDs in a serial fashion (without any gap between system apps and market apps), so as soon as it runs through all the .apks it finds in /system/app, it continues with the next (+1) UID available for the .apks found in /data/app. The net result of this is if you install a ROM that has more .apks in /system/app than your prior ROM did, it is likely you will have common-uid collision issues. The custom recovery "fix permissions" can try and fix this up - I'm not sure if they cover all the bases though (multiple user accounts, stuff in /data/app-secure, etc).
good luck
I've got a Wifi 2012 Nexus 7 (GROUPER) that I've been playing around with. It is abysmally slow with stock on it, and I've been reading that an F2FS recovery, with an F2FS kernel and an F2FS ROM and F2FS GApps work pretty drokking well, so well that it's like having a new, factory fresh Nexus 7 and it's supposed to run a lot smoother to boot.
That may be hyperbole I've read, though. But between here, Reddit, Droid Life and other sources, I've read enough compelling evidence that doing this on my tablet would be in my best interests.
However I spent a good couple of hours last night trying to flash the M-Kernel with AllF2FS support as well as an AllF2FS ROM, after flashing the FixFilesystem zip, rebooting recovery (TWRP 2.7.0.0 F2FS) which was recommended, and then I flashed ROM THEN GApps THEN Kernel, which I've learned you want to do in that order because ROMs oftentimes have their own embedded kernel. The M-Kernel gives F2FS support, so I went with that.
Well, I tried everything and every order I could, but I cannot get either the ROM or the kernel to flash in TWRP, nor can I get any success with using the N7 Rootkit tool.
I've given it multiple attempts, even tried other kernels and other ROMs but I haven't had any success.
Are there any experts on this who can either pound out a step-by-step or point me in the direction of one that already exists? I searched the forums a bit but I didn't find anything usable that wasn't outdated by several months.
Thanks,
shaddz said:
I've got a Wifi 2012 Nexus 7 (GROUPER) that I've been playing around with. It is abysmally slow with stock on it, and I've been reading that an F2FS recovery, with an F2FS kernel and an F2FS ROM and F2FS GApps work pretty drokking well, so well that it's like having a new, factory fresh Nexus 7 and it's supposed to run a lot smoother to boot.
That may be hyperbole I've read, though. But between here, Reddit, Droid Life and other sources, I've read enough compelling evidence that doing this on my tablet would be in my best interests.
However I spent a good couple of hours last night trying to flash the M-Kernel with AllF2FS support as well as an AllF2FS ROM, after flashing the FixFilesystem zip, rebooting recovery (TWRP 2.7.0.0 F2FS) which was recommended, and then I flashed ROM THEN GApps THEN Kernel, which I've learned you want to do in that order because ROMs oftentimes have their own embedded kernel. The M-Kernel gives F2FS support, so I went with that.
Well, I tried everything and every order I could, but I cannot get either the ROM or the kernel to flash in TWRP, nor can I get any success with using the N7 Rootkit tool.
I've given it multiple attempts, even tried other kernels and other ROMs but I haven't had any success.
Are there any experts on this who can either pound out a step-by-step or point me in the direction of one that already exists? I searched the forums a bit but I didn't find anything usable that wasn't outdated by several months.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It should be pretty straightforward.
I would start by upgrading TWRP to the latest, as it has the fixfilesystem stuff built in, so you wont need to do that step.
Download a ROM that has AllF2FS support, and dont worry about the kernel for now, and grab it's associated gapps
reboot to recovery(I am running 2.8.2.0), and under wipe->advanced wipe, there is an option for repair or change filesystem. Highlight System, Cache and Data, and change to F2FS. Run a repair on all 3 after it finishes, just to be safe.
Now you'll need an OTG cable, or micro-USB adapter for a flash drive with your ROM & Gapps - install both like you would normally.
Reboot when finished, and you are done. Easy-Peasy. . . You can go back and flash your kernel if you want
Thanks for that!
I will give it a try later; The tutorials I read before suggested using the 2.7.0.0 F2FS version. I'll try the UTD version.
shaddz said:
Thanks for that!
I will give it a try later; The tutorials I read before suggested using the 2.7.0.0 F2FS version. I'll try the UTD version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are flashing a lollipop rom, be sure to be on the latest twrp.
thonl said:
It should be pretty straightforward.
I would start by upgrading TWRP to the latest, as it has the fixfilesystem stuff built in, so you wont need to do that step.
Download a ROM that has AllF2FS support, and dont worry about the kernel for now, and grab it's associated gapps
reboot to recovery(I am running 2.8.2.0), and under wipe->advanced wipe, there is an option for repair or change filesystem. Highlight System, Cache and Data, and change to F2FS. Run a repair on all 3 after it finishes, just to be safe.
Now you'll need an OTG cable, or micro-USB adapter for a flash drive with your ROM & Gapps - install both like you would normally.
Reboot when finished, and you are done. Easy-Peasy. . . You can go back and flash your kernel if you want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey quick question man, I am finally getting around to this - When I select System, Cache and Data and try to tap Change to F2FS, it says "invalid partition selection" and clears the boxes.
shaddz said:
Hey quick question man, I am finally getting around to this - When I select System, Cache and Data and try to tap Change to F2FS, it says "invalid partition selection" and clears the boxes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Change only one at a time, that worked for me.
thonl said:
It should be pretty straightforward.
I would start by upgrading TWRP to the latest, as it has the fixfilesystem stuff built in, so you wont need to do that step.
Download a ROM that has AllF2FS support, and dont worry about the kernel for now, and grab it's associated gapps
reboot to recovery(I am running 2.8.2.0), and under wipe->advanced wipe, there is an option for repair or change filesystem. Highlight System, Cache and Data, and change to F2FS. Run a repair on all 3 after it finishes, just to be safe.
Now you'll need an OTG cable, or micro-USB adapter for a flash drive with your ROM & Gapps - install both like you would normally.
Reboot when finished, and you are done. Easy-Peasy. . . You can go back and flash your kernel if you want
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never mind, apparently you can do it within the recovery via usb -> pc