How do I erase everything on galaxy s3 i747

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user-747

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2014
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Hi,

I have i747 that has a clockworkmod recovery. How do I erase as much as possible of everything so that my phone is as clean as possible before I install a new ROM on galaxy s3?
I tried to factory reset phone, did all the 'delete/erase' options within clockworkmod recovery (except advanced section) and yet I see some residual folders from the previous installation. is there a way to completely erase wipe out everything without bricking the phone?

Thanks!
 
Last edited:
jason2678

jason2678

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2014
1,010
552
St. Paul
user-747 said:
Hi,

I have i747 that has a clockworkmod recovery. How do I erase as much as possible of everything so that my phone is as clean as possible before I install a new ROM on galaxy s3?
I tried to factory reset phone, did all the 'delete/erase' options within clockworkmod recovery (except advanced section) and yet I see some residual folders from the previous installation. is there a way to completely erase wipe out everything without bricking the phone?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

You should really flash TWRP recovery before proceeding. CWM hasn't been maintained or updated in a long time. It is likely to give you problems flashing anything new.

To completely blank a phone in TWRP I use Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> Dalvik, Cache, System, Data. Followed by Wipe -> Format Data then type "yes" to confirm; always a good idea if you're switching between Touchwiz and AOSP in particular. That will leave you with totally blank internal storage. You'll have to flash a ROM from an external SD, or load a ROM zip over USB while booted in recovery because internal storage will be wiped clean.

It might be a good idea to look into what bootloader and modem you're running too. If you're still using CWM, you might be on pretty old firmware that isn't going to work right with newer roms. Just don't start flashing bootloaders/modems willy-nilly. Samsung made this phone kind of easy to hard brick on the newer firmwares. There's a right way to update it, if you find you have to.
 
U

user-747

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2014
53
2
jason2678 said:
You should really flash TWRP recovery before proceeding. CWM hasn't been maintained or updated in a long time. It is likely to give you problems flashing anything new.

To completely blank a phone in TWRP I use Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> Dalvik, Cache, System, Data. Followed by Wipe -> Format Data then type "yes" to confirm; always a good idea if you're switching between Touchwiz and AOSP in particular. That will leave you with totally blank internal storage. You'll have to flash a ROM from an external SD, or load a ROM zip over USB while booted in recovery because internal storage will be wiped clean.

It might be a good idea to look into what bootloader and modem you're running too. If you're still using CWM, you might be on pretty old firmware that isn't going to work right with newer roms. Just don't start flashing bootloaders/modems willy-nilly. Samsung made this phone kind of easy to hard brick on the newer firmwares. There's a right way to update it, if you find you have to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks so much for providing such a detailed answer!! You make many very good points!!
Just to reflect on those...
1) Yes, CWM recovery has not been updated for about 2-3 years. I have 6.0.4.7 version. Where do I check how stale it really is? I tried googling for CWM recovery and saw tons of links with everyone talking about CWM but ZERO sites with actual CWM .zip or .img file

2) I did 'adb bugreport' and was able to find information on my bootloader and a modem:
Bootloader: I747UCUEMJB
Radio: I747UCUEMJB
I am not too sure for what I would need to use this information for though

3) when completely blanking the phone (doing all those wipe/erase actions you mentioned), would that erase the recovery as well or is recovery is kept on a some other partition that never gets touched

4) When installing TWRP over CWM, would TWRP override CWM or install side to side along with CWM?

Thanks!
 
audit13

audit13

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Jun 4, 2012
12,911
5,052
Toronto
The will need to run an updated bootloader and modem before installing the latest custom roms.
 
jason2678

jason2678

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2014
1,010
552
St. Paul
user-747 said:
2) I did 'adb bugreport' and was able to find information on my bootloader and a modem:
Bootloader: I747UCUEMJB
Radio: I747UCUEMJB
I am not too sure for what I would need to use this information for though

3) when completely blanking the phone (doing all those wipe/erase actions you mentioned), would that erase the recovery as well or is recovery is kept on a some other partition that never gets touched

4) When installing TWRP over CWM, would TWRP override CWM or install side to side along with CWM?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

3 - Those wipes will just blank /system, /data and other partitions that would affect a rom. More critical areas like bootloader, modem, and recovery will remain untouched and intact.

4 - TWRP will overwrite CWM in the /recovery partition. They can't coexist.

2 - If you're comfortable with Odin, this thread might be the easiest and safest way to get updated. The Odin tar will get you up to NE4 firmware that should work with all the newest roms. Before modding, you could check for updates a few times in that stock rom. There should be two, one from NE4 to NJ1, and one NJ1 to NJ2. NJ2 is the newest and almost certainly last update for the i747.

If you don't like using Odin, there are recovery flashable zips to update the firmware for i747 too. You just have to be very careful how you go about it or you can brick the phone.
 
U

user-747

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2014
53
2
audit13 said:
The will need to run an updated bootloader and modem before installing the latest custom roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to install the most recent octos just a few days ago with my stale configuration: old bootloader and old cwm recovery. My phone i747 currently has nougat.
When you speak of 'latest roms' what exactly do you have in mind?
 
U

user-747

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2014
53
2
jason2678 said:
3 - Those wipes will just blank /system, /data and other partitions that would affect a rom. More critical areas like bootloader, modem, and recovery will remain untouched and intact.

4 - TWRP will overwrite CWM in the /recovery partition. They can't coexist.

2 - If you're comfortable with Odin, this thread might be the easiest and safest way to get updated. The Odin tar will get you up to NE4 firmware that should work with all the newest roms. Before modding, you could check for updates a few times in that stock rom. There should be two, one from NE4 to NJ1, and one NJ1 to NJ2. NJ2 is the newest and almost certainly last update for the i747.

If you don't like using Odin, there are recovery flashable zips to update the firmware for i747 too. You just have to be very careful how you go about it or you can brick the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I am actually quite familiar with Odin. I used to root i747 with it. Then I wanted to update to the latest official rom and ironically soft-bricked the phone to the point where it was dead...nothing worked at all. If I remember correctly I wrote i9305 Rom to i747 phone. Then I found out that during boot the phone internally still scans through sd card and was able to take advantage of that to install recovery and consequently cyanogenmod os. I remember tons of Adb done. Since then the phone regained all functionality and now works very smooth with freshly installed octos. However, I see I am missing some hard drive space ie unusually large usage by octos. This makes me wonder if the 'bad original partition + bootloader +modem' are still in there but not invoked for some reason and the explanation behind my what appears to be successful installs is working os, etc are written to a separate partition which is now invoked. Is this hypothesis legit or not real? Is it at all possible that my cwm somehow is installed on a partition that is delete-able or that cannot be a possibility and all recovery goes into write-protected space?

And while we are in this topic, what are the obvious advantages of a newer boot loader if I can still install whatever custom roms?
 
Last edited:
audit13

audit13

Inactive Recognized Contributor
Jun 4, 2012
12,911
5,052
Toronto
user-747 said:
I was able to install the most recent octos just a few days ago with my stale configuration: old bootloader and old cwm recovery. My phone i747 currently has nougat.
When you speak of 'latest roms' what exactly do you have in mind?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sometimes, a phone will not display the correct imei with the latest custom ROM unless the phone is running the most recent bootloader and modem for the particular phone.
 
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jason2678

jason2678

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2014
1,010
552
St. Paul
I think this phone only has a 12 GB data partition. About 1.5 GB is reserved for /system, another 1 GB for /cache, and there are a host of other partitions. That's some of your used space. The rest could be cruft from old installs left over in userdata that a standard wipe of /data didn't get unless you format internal storage.

If what you have is working for you, then I wouldn't touch bootloader and modem.
 
U

user-747

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2014
53
2
jason2678 said:
You should really flash TWRP recovery before proceeding. CWM hasn't been maintained or updated in a long time. It is likely to give you problems flashing anything new.

To completely blank a phone in TWRP I use Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> Dalvik, Cache, System, Data. Followed by Wipe -> Format Data then type "yes" to confirm; always a good idea if you're switching between Touchwiz and AOSP in particular. That will leave you with totally blank internal storage. You'll have to flash a ROM from an external SD, or load a ROM zip over USB while booted in recovery because internal storage will be wiped clean.

It might be a good idea to look into what bootloader and modem you're running too. If you're still using CWM, you might be on pretty old firmware that isn't going to work right with newer roms. Just don't start flashing bootloaders/modems willy-nilly. Samsung made this phone kind of easy to hard brick on the newer firmwares. There's a right way to update it, if you find you have to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

jason2678 said:
I think this phone only has a 12 GB data partition. About 1.5 GB is reserved for /system, another 1 GB for /cache, and there are a host of other partitions. That's some of your used space. The rest could be cruft from old installs left over in userdata that a standard wipe of /data didn't get unless you format internal storage.

If what you have is working for you, then I wouldn't touch bootloader and modem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks for the insight!
I went ahead and updated by recovery to TWRP via Odin just a few minutes ago...
I see Under Advanced Wipe another option for Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> Internal Storage. Should I also wipe out internal storage? What is it for anyway? Whats the difference between 'internal storage' and 'system'?
 
Last edited:
jason2678

jason2678

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2014
1,010
552
St. Paul
user-747 said:
Thanks for the insight!
I went ahead and updated by recovery to TWRP via Odin just a few minutes ago...
I see Under Advanced Wipe another option for Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> Internal Storage. Should I also wipe out internal storage? What is it for anyway? Whats the difference between 'internal storage' and 'system'?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Honestly I'm not 100% sure what the Internal Storage wipe does under Advanced Wipe, and I don't feel like making then restoring a backup right now just to test it ;). I never use it. If I had to guess, I bet it wipes /data and possibly a few other partitions without preserving user files in /data/media/0, see below, but don't know that. It certainly won't blank the whole internal storage; some areas like recovery, modem, and aboot are far too important and won't be touched.

Here's what I can tell you. Doing Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> system, data, cache, dalvik is typically good enough for flashing a new rom (switching from Touchwiz to AOSP can require some additional care), some would even say overkill the way rom installers are scripted today, but old habits die hard. However, Advanced Wipe -> Data will wipe /data without wiping /data/media. Since android got multi-user support, files reported to be in /sdcard are actually stored in /data/media/0 for the primary user, so that means that downloads, pictures, user app files and things like that can be left behind by just wiping data since /data/media is left untouched. It is useful if you don't want to shuffle your files off then back on the device to flash something new or if you're using a device without an external SD and have a rom zip stored on device in /sdcard, but it leaves stuff behind if you're looking for a clean start.

To completely blank /data pick Wipe -> Format Data and TWRP will format /data and leave nothing behind, not even /data/media like the normal Advanced Wipe -> Data preserves. Just make sure you're prepared for the phone storage to be blank. You'll have to flash from external SD or push files from a computer over usb. TWRP does automatically start up mtp and adb shortly after booting if you need to push files over usb.

/system is a partition of special reserved space just for the rom and system apps and not user files. It is usually mounted read only when booted up normally to keep us from messing anything important up. I hope this helps and doesn't just muddy the waters more.
 
Last edited:
U

user-747

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2014
53
2
jason2678 said:
Honestly I'm not 100% sure what the Internal Storage wipe does under Advanced Wipe, and I don't feel like making then restoring a backup right now just to test it ;). I never use it. If I had to guess, I bet it wipes /data and possibly a few other partitions without preserving user files in /data/media/0, see below, but don't know that. It certainly won't blank the whole internal storage; some areas like recovery, modem, and aboot are far too important and won't be touched.

Here's what I can tell you. Doing Wipe -> Advanced Wipe -> system, data, cache, dalvik is typically good enough for flashing a new rom (switching from Touchwiz to AOSP can require some additional care), some would even say overkill the way rom installers are scripted today, but old habits die hard. However, Advanced Wipe -> Data will wipe /data without wiping /data/media. Since android got multi-user support, files reported to be in /sdcard are actually stored in /data/media/0 for the primary user, so that means that downloads, pictures, user app files and things like that can be left behind by just wiping data since /data/media is left untouched. It is useful if you don't want to shuffle your files off then back on the device to flash something new or if you're using a device without an external SD and have a rom zip stored on device in /sdcard, but it leaves stuff behind if you're looking for a clean start.

To completely blank /data pick Wipe -> Format Data and TWRP will format /data and leave nothing behind, not even /data/media like the normal Advanced Wipe -> Data preserves. Just make sure you're prepared for the phone storage to be blank. You'll have to flash from external SD or push files from a computer over usb. TWRP does automatically start up mtp and adb shortly after booting if you need to push files over usb.

/system is a partition of special reserved space just for the rom and system apps and not user files. It is usually mounted read only when booted up normally to keep us from messing anything important up. I hope this helps and doesn't just muddy the waters more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Thanks!

I will try to do wipe and reinstall Rom tonight and will update this thread. While we are in this topic, when flashing twrp via Odin in phone's download mode, I noticed that it says: Qualcomm secureboot: enabled. Does this mean my bootloader is locked?
 
jason2678

jason2678

Senior Member
Jul 1, 2014
1,010
552
St. Paul
user-747 said:
Thanks!

I will try to do wipe and reinstall Rom tonight and will update this thread. While we are in this topic, when flashing twrp via Odin in phone's download mode, I noticed that it says: Qualcomm secureboot: enabled. Does this mean my bootloader is locked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

No, the i747 never had a locked bootloader. You couldn't boot unsigned stuff like CWM, TWRP, or octos if it did.
 
U

user-747

Senior Member
Apr 27, 2014
53
2
user-747 said:
Thanks!

I will try to do wipe and reinstall Rom tonight and will update this thread. While we are in this topic, when flashing twrp via Odin in phone's download mode, I noticed that it says: Qualcomm secureboot: enabled. Does this mean my bootloader is locked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I went ahead and did all the wipes and formats you recommend and all worked like a charm. OctOs installed like a charm, my disk space is regained, gapps are working, IMEI is good. so far I cannt find anyting that does not work. Thank you @jason2678 for your valuable feedback on my questions!!
 
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    audit13
    audit13
    user-747 said:
    I was able to install the most recent octos just a few days ago with my stale configuration: old bootloader and old cwm recovery. My phone i747 currently has nougat.
    When you speak of 'latest roms' what exactly do you have in mind?
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Sometimes, a phone will not display the correct imei with the latest custom ROM unless the phone is running the most recent bootloader and modem for the particular phone.
    View

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