Root Planning to install MikG ROM. Can I delete data from my SD card?

[Mateo1041]

I plan to move from AOSP Deck to Sense MikG and would like to also clean up my SD Card in the process. What can I all delete? Everything but files in the root folder?

Thanks,
- Matt

 

[MizzouBrent]

Well you CAN delete everything. But definitely back up everything you want to keep on your PC and then copy everything back over. There's nothing that you absolutely have to have in order for a rom to function correctly.

 

[Mateo1041]

Well you CAN delete everything. But definitely back up everything you want to keep on your PC and then copy everything back over. There's nothing that you absolutely have to have in order for a rom to function correctly.

My concern is that a lot of straggler data is left over from prior installs and I'd prefer to just start fresh. I already have the important stuff backed up like Titanium Backup apps, Nandroid Backups, photos, and app lists. Will my phone still function like normal if I delete everything on the SD Card prior to installing the ROM? I realize I'd still need to leave a couple files on to flash, etc.

 

[Rxpert83]

My concern is that a lot of straggler data is left over from prior installs and I'd prefer to just start fresh. I already have the important stuff backed up like Titanium Backup apps, Nandroid Backups, photos, and app lists. Will my phone still function like normal if I delete everything on the SD Card prior to installing the ROM? I realize I'd still need to leave a couple files on to flash, etc.

Yes, the phone will function just fine with a blank SD card. It will put anything it needs on the SD card as it needs them

 

[Mateo1041]

Yes, the phone will function just fine with a blank SD card. It will put anything it needs on the SD card as it needs them

Great, that's what I needed to know. Thanks!

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

Yes, the phone will function just fine with a blank SD card. It will put anything it needs on the SD card as it needs them

I was about to start a new thread, but this is related so I'll go with it.
On two occasions now, I've formatted my SD card and mikg failed to boot up. It boots to the home page and the Wi-Fi as well as antenna comes on, but that's it. Nothing else loads and I can't even turn it off. So glad the evo has a removable battery.
My fix both times was to just wipe and flash the ROM again.
Any ideas?

 

[ocnbrze]

I was about to start a new thread, but this is related so I'll go with it.
On two occasions now, I've formatted my SD card and mikg failed to boot up. It boots to the home page and the Wi-Fi as well as antenna comes on, but that's it. Nothing else loads and I can't even turn it off. So glad the evo has a removable battery.
My fix both times was to just wipe and flash the ROM again.
Any ideas?

what recovery are you using? what did you wipe in the beginning?

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

what recovery are you using? what did you wipe in the beginning?

Amon Ra.

I don't know what you mean with the second question but I'll make an assumption.

I went back to stock and unrooted for some warranty work. I decided to stay that way for close to a year but was itching for a new phone so I rooted again to try out a new ROM instead. I had a two gig partition on there from my previous rooting so I just started using the SD card as is. The card was rather full though so I decided to wipe it and repartition, a clean start.

I used Amon Ra to create the partition and it didn't boot. I was able to put the ROM on there with the USB-MS function and I flashed it again. No worries, but I found it odd as I always assumed SD cards weren't mandatory.

The second time, I decided to move the SD card over to my new evo v which doesn't need a partition for apps to SD. Using Amon Ra, I changed the partition size to zero, but I had forgotten what happened last time. Sure enough, the phone didn't boot. I put the 8 gig card from my new phone in there and fixed it like last time.

 

[ocnbrze]

Amon Ra.

I don't know what you mean with the second question but I'll make an assumption.

I went back to stock and unrooted for some warranty work. I decided to stay that way for close to a year but was itching for a new phone so I rooted again to try out a new ROM instead. I had a two gig partition on there from my previous rooting so I just started using the SD card as is. The card was rather full though so I decided to wipe it and repartition, a clean start.

I used Amon Ra to create the partition and it didn't boot. I was able to put the ROM on there with the USB-MS function and I flashed it again. No worries, but I found it odd as I always assumed SD cards weren't mandatory.

The second time, I decided to move the SD card over to my new evo v which doesn't need a partition for apps to SD. Using Amon Ra, I changed the partition size to zero, but I had forgotten what happened last time. Sure enough, the phone didn't boot. I put the 8 gig card from my new phone in there and fixed it like last time.

you should have just wiped the card. no need to set the partition to zero. not sure if that was it or not. but when i meant to wipe, i meant wipe everything but the sd card in recovery before flashing mikg.

 

[Palmetto Fellow]

you should have just wiped the card. no need to set the partition to zero. not sure if that was it or not. but when i meant to wipe, i meant wipe everything but the sd card in recovery before flashing mikg.

I've always been of the notion that partitioning works at a higher level than formatting. At least in a Windows environment, you can format a drive, but it will not remove the partition IIRC. Let's say I have a 1 terabyte drive which is paritioned into two 500 gig drives. When I format, I choose drive C: or drive D:. To make it a terabyte drive again, I need to create a single partition.

Perhaps with Amon Ra, and Android in general, wiping an SD card is effectively the same as creating a single partition?

My goal was to remove the 2 gig parition from the SD card. I didn't think a simple wipe would have done that. In fact, the 2 gig parition is somewhat of a "ghost" for me. I've never been able to interact with it using a file browser. I do know that after partitioning, I gained back those 2 gigs...I saw the capacity jump from 27 gigs to 29 gigs.

So if I take my SD card out of my EVO running MikG, do you feel that it should boot up fine? If so, why does partitioning it create problems?

 

[ocnbrze]

I've always been of the notion that partitioning works at a higher level than formatting. At least in a Windows environment, you can format a drive, but it will not remove the partition IIRC. Let's say I have a 1 terabyte drive which is paritioned into two 500 gig drives. When I format, I choose drive C: or drive D:. To make it a terabyte drive again, I need to create a single partition.

Perhaps with Amon Ra, and Android in general, wiping an SD card is effectively the same as creating a single partition?

My goal was to remove the 2 gig parition from the SD card. I didn't think a simple wipe would have done that. In fact, the 2 gig parition is somewhat of a "ghost" for me. I've never been able to interact with it using a file browser. I do know that after partitioning, I gained back those 2 gigs...I saw the capacity jump from 27 gigs to 29 gigs.

So if I take my SD card out of my EVO running MikG, do you feel that it should boot up fine? If so, why does partitioning it create problems?

so mikg has a script called a2sd buit in where when a partition of the sd card is detected then it will load all of the apps to the sd card. all of the system apps will remain on the phone. now why does it not boot up fine when the sd card is taken out mat depend on how the a2sd flags are arranged and dalvik cache(as well as if you moved it to the sd card).

normally though if you reformat the card the partition is erased. also the partition is hidden so that a file manager will nt be able to see it. and if you were not wipe the phone and start over with no partition after the first flash and boot, taking the sd card out should not be an issue. you can even boot without it.