5 replies to this topic

[kiranbedre]

Hello all,

I'm new to installing custom ROMs. Couple of days ago, I successfully installed Cyanogenmod 9 on my Samsung Galaxy S. Have fell in love with my phone again...

I understood that we will have to perform following things before installing any ROMs.

1. Wipe dalwik cache
2. Wipe data/factory reset
3. Wipe cache partition

2nd step was pretty straight forward to understand. But, I'm not sure about the 1st and the last one. It would be great if anyone can help me understand them.

Also, if I have to update nightly build, will I have to perform all these 3 steps there by losing phone data or can I skip any so that I need not re-setup my phone?

Cheers,
Kiran

[thesmegger]

hi

i found good advice here xda temahacksung ok

bascially its good for installing all new roms, remember when coming from a rom thats not the same as yours, you have to reset wiping stuff like davlik etc, like me cm9 ngihtlies i dont do that i just update to the next one always keep cm9 which are great . just dont pick the 28 experimantal its crashed my phone lol.
so just when updating your phone sometimes do a nandroid backup just in case,  and you can go and wipe the old one when you conect your phone to pc . its in the file clockwork mod ok , they take up loads of space so always keep just one ok.

i always use the cm9 nightlies rom , then goo aps ics zip , then i use gapps fixer on the teamhacksung cause sometimes you cant use the calendar if you dont reset so .

hope that answered your question

see ya thesmegger

Edited by thesmegger, 30 June 2012 - 11:33 AM.

[leo9891]

When you are sticking with CM9 and its Nightlies or other builds, you do NOT have to delete Dalvik Cache, Cache Partition, or do a Factory/Data Reset. Just download the Update, and install it. Everything will be fine.

Now if you were to upgrade from a different ROM, such as CM7 going to CM9, then you would HAVE to delete the Dalvik Cache, the Cache Partition, and do a Factory/Data Reset.

Hope this helps.

[kiranbedre]

Thanks for the response guys! I updated the nightly build without clearing Dalvik cache and Cache partition and faced some issues with few apps. After clearing the both cache, they worked fine.

Now I understand that there is no harm in clearing Dalvik cache and Cache partition.

[AlexandreP]

Hi,

I don't really understand what the Dalvik cache is. Looking at the description in the CM wiki did not enlighten me much:

Quote

Dalvik-cache
The dalvik-cache directory holds all of the pre-compiled .dex files created by installed apps. These files are static and do not change unless the app is updated.

So, it's a cache where .dex files created by the used applications are stored. But what are those .dex files? Why do they interfer with new/updated ROMs? (It might answer why clearing this directory is needed or not needed under which circumstances.)

[kiranbedre]

Wikipedia for Dalvik gave me a brief idea on Dalvik...

Quote

Dalvik is the process virtual machine (VM) in Google's Android operating system. It is the software that runs the apps on Android devices. Dalvik is thus an integral part of Android, which is typically used on mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers. Programs are commonly written in Java and compiled to bytecode. They are then converted from Java Virtual Machine-compatible .class files to Dalvik-compatible .dex (Dalvik Executable) files before installation on a device. The compact Dalvik Executable format is designed to be suitable for systems that are constrained in terms of memory and processor speed.

Now, I'm still not sure on why this should be cleared and how clearing this would help!