ClockworkMod:
– Also known as Clockwork and CWM – is a custom recovery for Android phones and tablets that allows you to perform several advanced recovery, restoration, installation and maintenance operations on your Android device that aren’t possible with the stock recovery. In what follows, we will cover all that this recovery is capable of doing, and how to do it. We do not discuss Touch recovery (and you shouldn’t use it on the ET4G) or Rogue recovery here. Those are different tuts…
All About Android Recovery:
All Android devices ship with a recovery console that is basically a partition on the device’s internal memory and can be booted into. The stock recovery of almost all Android devices provides a few basic yet handy options that allow you to factory reset your device and also to recover its operating system using an official ROM in zip format, but that’s all you can do with it. That’s where a custom recovery comes handy.
A custom Android recovery basically replaces the stock recovery with one that lets you do all you can do with the stock recovery, plus a plethora of more options to give you a lot more control on your device. With a custom recovery, you can install official and unofficial ROMs as well as other updates including apps, themes, kernels etc. using zip files, wipe not just user data but pretty much every partition on your device, mount the storage card for USB mass storage access without leaving recovery, partition your SD card, wipe Dalvik cache and battery stats, fix permissions, perform, manage and restore backups and so on.
Now Lets Get on with the tutorial, hoping that you have read above things clearly. If you read this Tutorial perfectly then you Could add custom ROM , Kernels and your own Boot Animations to your mobile. So step everything Aside and Concentrate on this.
Even if you are not a Tech Geek you can understand this tutorials.
So Lets Begin....
On most Android devices including ones by Samsung, you can enter recovery by powering your device off and then powering it back on while keeping either the ‘Volume Down’ or the ‘Volume-Up’ button pressed, depending on the device (volume up for our phones). This will enter the bootloader from where you can select the ‘RECOVERY’ option by navigating to it with the Volume key and entering it with the ‘Power’ key.
On most Samsung devices specifically Samsung Galaxy S series devices, you must keep both the ‘Volume-Up’ and ‘Home’ keys pressed while powering on the device, to directly enter recovery.
– Also known as Clockwork and CWM – is a custom recovery for Android phones and tablets that allows you to perform several advanced recovery, restoration, installation and maintenance operations on your Android device that aren’t possible with the stock recovery. In what follows, we will cover all that this recovery is capable of doing, and how to do it. We do not discuss Touch recovery (and you shouldn’t use it on the ET4G) or Rogue recovery here. Those are different tuts…
All About Android Recovery:
All Android devices ship with a recovery console that is basically a partition on the device’s internal memory and can be booted into. The stock recovery of almost all Android devices provides a few basic yet handy options that allow you to factory reset your device and also to recover its operating system using an official ROM in zip format, but that’s all you can do with it. That’s where a custom recovery comes handy.
A custom Android recovery basically replaces the stock recovery with one that lets you do all you can do with the stock recovery, plus a plethora of more options to give you a lot more control on your device. With a custom recovery, you can install official and unofficial ROMs as well as other updates including apps, themes, kernels etc. using zip files, wipe not just user data but pretty much every partition on your device, mount the storage card for USB mass storage access without leaving recovery, partition your SD card, wipe Dalvik cache and battery stats, fix permissions, perform, manage and restore backups and so on.
Now Lets Get on with the tutorial, hoping that you have read above things clearly. If you read this Tutorial perfectly then you Could add custom ROM , Kernels and your own Boot Animations to your mobile. So step everything Aside and Concentrate on this.
Even if you are not a Tech Geek you can understand this tutorials.
So Lets Begin....
Introduction to ClockworkMod:
ClockworkMod recovery is one of the most widely used custom Android recoveries that is available for most mainstream Android devices. It is the needed recovery for AOKP, AOSP, CM7 and 9. ClockworkMod recovery has been developed by Koushik Dutta (also known as Koush) .Booting into ClockworkMod:
On most Android devices including ones by Samsung, you can enter recovery by powering your device off and then powering it back on while keeping either the ‘Volume Down’ or the ‘Volume-Up’ button pressed, depending on the device (volume up for our phones). This will enter the bootloader from where you can select the ‘RECOVERY’ option by navigating to it with the Volume key and entering it with the ‘Power’ key.
On most Samsung devices specifically Samsung Galaxy S series devices, you must keep both the ‘Volume-Up’ and ‘Home’ keys pressed while powering on the device, to directly enter recovery.
Tour:
1. Reboot system now.
This one is self-explanatory.
2. Apply update from sdcard:
This can be used for installation of any official or unofficial update, ROM, kernel, theme etc. that is in a zip format installable from recovery, as long as the file is named update.zip and it has been placed on the root of your SD card (i.e. not in any sub-folder). Selecting this option (and most of the options featured below) will bring up a rather annoying confirmation prompt but this has saved us on multiple occasions from a lot of trouble we would have been into due to accidental key presses.
This is what we are talking about:
3. Wipe data/factory reset:
This option wipes all user data on the device as well as cache. Doing this will leave your phone in the state it was in when you bought it or when any custom ROM was first installed. It will also wipe any sd-ext partition that you might have setup (more on this later).
4. Wipe cache partition:
Wipes the cache partition of the device to clear all the data accumulated there over use. This is often used before installing a new ROM, app, kernel or any similar mod via recovery.
5. Install zip from sdcard:
This option brings up the following sub-menu:
2. Apply update from sdcard:
This can be used for installation of any official or unofficial update, ROM, kernel, theme etc. that is in a zip format installable from recovery, as long as the file is named update.zip and it has been placed on the root of your SD card (i.e. not in any sub-folder). Selecting this option (and most of the options featured below) will bring up a rather annoying confirmation prompt but this has saved us on multiple occasions from a lot of trouble we would have been into due to accidental key presses.
This is what we are talking about:
3. Wipe data/factory reset:
This option wipes all user data on the device as well as cache. Doing this will leave your phone in the state it was in when you bought it or when any custom ROM was first installed. It will also wipe any sd-ext partition that you might have setup (more on this later).
4. Wipe cache partition:
Wipes the cache partition of the device to clear all the data accumulated there over use. This is often used before installing a new ROM, app, kernel or any similar mod via recovery.
5. Install zip from sdcard:
This option brings up the following sub-menu:
- Apply /sdcard/update.zip :
- Choose zip from sdcard :
Lets you install any zip file (with any name) from any location on your SD card. The file can be for a ROM, a kernel, an application, a theme or any mod as long as it is in recovery-flashable zip format. This is the most widely used option for installing a ROM that you have downloaded and copied to your SD card.
6. Backup and Restore :
Undoubtedly one of the most important features provided by a custom recovery, the backup and restore feature – also known as Nandroid backup – allows you to take a snapshot of your phone’s entire internal memory including all partitions, and save it on the SD card.
7. Mounts and Storage:
Allows you to perform maintenance tasks on all the internal and external partitions of your android device
8. Advanced:
This section contains a few options most users will not require, though these can come handy quite often, especially wiping Dalvik cache, which is required before most ROM installations.
This guide is primary focused on a full feature tour of ClockworkMod recovery but in our previously written guide on how to flash a ROM or app from a zip to an Android device file from recovery, we have already covered in detail how to use ClockworkMod for installing any ROM, kernel, app, theme or mod using a recovery-flashable zip file. While that guide is based on an older version of ClockworkMod recovery, everything in it still applies to the latest versions and should work flawlessly.
- Toggle signature verification :
- Toggle script asserts :
- +++++Go Back+++++
6. Backup and Restore :
Undoubtedly one of the most important features provided by a custom recovery, the backup and restore feature – also known as Nandroid backup – allows you to take a snapshot of your phone’s entire internal memory including all partitions, and save it on the SD card.
- Backup
- Restore
- Advanced Restore
7. Mounts and Storage:
Allows you to perform maintenance tasks on all the internal and external partitions of your android device
- mount/unmount /system, /data, /cache, /sdcard or /sd-ext
- format boot, system, data, cache, sdcard or sd-ext
- mount USB storage
8. Advanced:
This section contains a few options most users will not require, though these can come handy quite often, especially wiping Dalvik cache, which is required before most ROM installations.
- Reboot Recovery
- Wipe Dalvik Cache
- Wipe Battery Stats
- Report Error
- Key Test
- Partition SD Card
- Fix Permissions
Using ClockworkMod for ROM, kernel, Apps, Theme or Mod Installation:
While in the complete feature tour we have already shown you how to install a ROM, kernel, app, theme or any similar mod from a recovery-flashable zip file using the recovery options, those of you who jumped straight to this section expecting to get just this information quickly are at the right place!This guide is primary focused on a full feature tour of ClockworkMod recovery but in our previously written guide on how to flash a ROM or app from a zip to an Android device file from recovery, we have already covered in detail how to use ClockworkMod for installing any ROM, kernel, app, theme or mod using a recovery-flashable zip file. While that guide is based on an older version of ClockworkMod recovery, everything in it still applies to the latest versions and should work flawlessly.
How To Install A ROM Or App From Zip File To Android Device From Recovery:
Please note that the terms ‘installing’ and ‘flashing’ can be used interchangeably here and will mean the same thing.
Disclaimer: Although I have done my best to make the following procedure as safe as possible, you should still follow this guide at your own risk.
Rooting your device renders its warranty void.
ALWAYS take backups before rooting or flashing a custom ROM or app to your phone.
Flashing a defective ROM or app to your phone might brick it so choose the ROMs and software that you flash wisely and never install a ROM or application from an untrusted source.
Addictive Tips will not be liable if your device gets damaged or bricked during the process.
Official ROM updates from device manufacturers or carriers are released in conveniently packaged installation files that you can run on your computer while your Android device is connected to it, and they automatically take care of updating your phone’s system. Similarly, most applications are available directly in the Android Market for easy installation, or come packaged as convenient ‘.apk’ files that you can just run on your Android phone to install. The case is not the same with most custom ROMs and several custom applications, which come in .zip files rather than PC installers or .apk files.
The idea of installing a customized operating system to their smartphone can be quite intimidating for inexperienced users. Though once they get used to it, some of them end up trying out different ROMs for their devices several times a day. While I don’t exactly recommend that you flash every new ROM that is made available for your Android phone, we are here to help you get over the fear of flashing a ROM that enhances the capabilities of your device so that you can use it to its fullest potential.
Here is a quick look at what we will be covering in this guide. Feel free to skip to the real deal if you already meet the prerequisites.
• Before We Begin: Battery Check
• Before We Begin: Unlocking the Bootloader (Stock Android Devices Only)
• Before We Begin: Rooting
• Before We Proceed: Installing a Custom Recovery
• The Real Deal: Installing a Custom ROM to your Phone
• The Real Deal: Installing an App From a Zip File to your Phone
There are certain steps that you might not require, and we shall be mentioning them in each section.
Users of stock Android devices such as the Google Nexus One or Nexus S also need to unlock its bootloader before they can proceed. Once you have done this, you may proceed to the next step.
Before you can install a custom ROM to your device, your phone needs to be rooted. Rooting is basically administrator or root level access required to perform administrative tasks on your Android device. Once you are done with the rooting process, you may proceed to the next step.
Rooting grants you the necessary access level to execute administrative tasks on your Android device but it is the recovery that provides the tools necessary to actually perform those tasks. While every Android device ships with a recovery, the stock recovery is quite limited in what it lets you do, and you need a custom recovery image to perform advanced operations on your device. Once you have a custom recovery installed on your phone, you will be ready to proceed to the next step.
While most apps for Android devices are available at the app store for direct download and installation or as .apk files for direct installation, there are certain apps which are only available as zip files installable from recovery. Their installation procedure is the same as installing a custom ROM that we just featured above.
However, there are a few minute differences.
1.When installing an app from a zip file, you do NOT need to perform the ‘wipe data/factory reset’ or ‘wipe/system’ step so NEVER do that unless you know what you are doing, have a complete backup and want to start using your ROM as a fresh installation with the new app added.
2. You might or might not need to wipe the cache and the dalvik cache for installing apps from zip file. This varies from app to app and the developers of such apps as well as many reviewers including us mention when featuring an app whether it requires a cache and dalvik cache wipe or not. However, it never hurts to wipe these caches anyway, and it does not effect the data on your device or its storage card.
There you go, this concludes the guide on how to flash a ROM or app from a zip file to your Android device using a custom recovery. To try out the skills that you just learned, search our site for custom ROMs for your phone and start flashing, always remembering to take backups first!
Rooting your device renders its warranty void.
ALWAYS take backups before rooting or flashing a custom ROM or app to your phone.
Flashing a defective ROM or app to your phone might brick it so choose the ROMs and software that you flash wisely and never install a ROM or application from an untrusted source.
Addictive Tips will not be liable if your device gets damaged or bricked during the process.
Official ROM updates from device manufacturers or carriers are released in conveniently packaged installation files that you can run on your computer while your Android device is connected to it, and they automatically take care of updating your phone’s system. Similarly, most applications are available directly in the Android Market for easy installation, or come packaged as convenient ‘.apk’ files that you can just run on your Android phone to install. The case is not the same with most custom ROMs and several custom applications, which come in .zip files rather than PC installers or .apk files.
The idea of installing a customized operating system to their smartphone can be quite intimidating for inexperienced users. Though once they get used to it, some of them end up trying out different ROMs for their devices several times a day. While I don’t exactly recommend that you flash every new ROM that is made available for your Android phone, we are here to help you get over the fear of flashing a ROM that enhances the capabilities of your device so that you can use it to its fullest potential.
Here is a quick look at what we will be covering in this guide. Feel free to skip to the real deal if you already meet the prerequisites.
• Before We Begin: Battery Check
• Before We Begin: Unlocking the Bootloader (Stock Android Devices Only)
• Before We Begin: Rooting
• Before We Proceed: Installing a Custom Recovery
• The Real Deal: Installing a Custom ROM to your Phone
• The Real Deal: Installing an App From a Zip File to your Phone
There are certain steps that you might not require, and we shall be mentioning them in each section.
- Battery Check :
- Before We Begin:Unlocking the Bootloader (Stock Android Devices Only):
Users of stock Android devices such as the Google Nexus One or Nexus S also need to unlock its bootloader before they can proceed. Once you have done this, you may proceed to the next step.
- Before We Begin: Rooting
Before you can install a custom ROM to your device, your phone needs to be rooted. Rooting is basically administrator or root level access required to perform administrative tasks on your Android device. Once you are done with the rooting process, you may proceed to the next step.
- Before We Proceed: Installing A Custom Recovery
Rooting grants you the necessary access level to execute administrative tasks on your Android device but it is the recovery that provides the tools necessary to actually perform those tasks. While every Android device ships with a recovery, the stock recovery is quite limited in what it lets you do, and you need a custom recovery image to perform advanced operations on your device. Once you have a custom recovery installed on your phone, you will be ready to proceed to the next step.
- The Real Deal: Installing a Custom ROM to your Phone
#Manually:
1. Download the ROM from the link given in the article featuring that ROM. It should be a zip file.
2. Connect your phone to your computer via USB and mount its storage card.
3. Copy the downloaded ROM to the root of the storage card.
4. Power your phone off and reboot it into recovery. This will involve using a combination of your device’s hardware keys. Once in recovery, you can navigate its menu using the volume up and volume down hardware keys or your phone’s trackball / optical track pad if it comes equipped with one.
5. Use the ‘backup and restore’ feature of recovery to backup your existing ROM installation, software and data. This step is known as performing a nandroid backup. ALWAYS perform a backup before flashing a custom ROM, UNLESS you can afford to lose everything that’s on your phone at the moment.
Note: ALWAYS choose to perform the following steps 6, 7 and 8 UNLESS the ROM you are attempting to flash is an updated version of the same ROM that you are currently using, and is compatible with the current installation’s data. It is usually mentioned with the update whether you can install it over a previous version without wiping its data or not.
6. Get back to the main recovery menu and use the option ‘wipe data/factory reset’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select “Yes – Delete all user data”.
7. From the main recovery menu, select ‘wipe cache partition’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Wipe Cache’.
8. From the main recovery menu, enter the ‘advanced’ menu. From this menu, select ‘Wipe Dalvik Cache’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Format/System’.
9. From the main recovery menu, enter the ‘Mounts and Storage’ menu. From this menu, select ‘Format/System’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Wipe Dalvik Cache’.
10. Go back to the main recovery menu by pressing the back button and select the ‘Install zip from SD card’ option.
11. Select ‘choose zip from sdcard’ to get a list of the files and folders on your SD card. Scroll to the ROM’s file that you copied there in step 3, and select it. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Install file_name.zip’ where file_name.zip is the name of the zip file that you are trying to install.
12. Wait patiently while the ROM is flashed to your phone via recovery.
13. Once the installation is complete, head back to the main recovery menu if you aren’t there, and select ‘reboot system now’. Your phone will now boot into the newly installed ROM.
1. Download the ROM from the link given in the article featuring that ROM. It should be a zip file.
2. Connect your phone to your computer via USB and mount its storage card.
3. Copy the downloaded ROM to the root of the storage card.
4. Power your phone off and reboot it into recovery. This will involve using a combination of your device’s hardware keys. Once in recovery, you can navigate its menu using the volume up and volume down hardware keys or your phone’s trackball / optical track pad if it comes equipped with one.
5. Use the ‘backup and restore’ feature of recovery to backup your existing ROM installation, software and data. This step is known as performing a nandroid backup. ALWAYS perform a backup before flashing a custom ROM, UNLESS you can afford to lose everything that’s on your phone at the moment.
Note: ALWAYS choose to perform the following steps 6, 7 and 8 UNLESS the ROM you are attempting to flash is an updated version of the same ROM that you are currently using, and is compatible with the current installation’s data. It is usually mentioned with the update whether you can install it over a previous version without wiping its data or not.
6. Get back to the main recovery menu and use the option ‘wipe data/factory reset’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select “Yes – Delete all user data”.
7. From the main recovery menu, select ‘wipe cache partition’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Wipe Cache’.
8. From the main recovery menu, enter the ‘advanced’ menu. From this menu, select ‘Wipe Dalvik Cache’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Format/System’.
9. From the main recovery menu, enter the ‘Mounts and Storage’ menu. From this menu, select ‘Format/System’. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Wipe Dalvik Cache’.
10. Go back to the main recovery menu by pressing the back button and select the ‘Install zip from SD card’ option.
11. Select ‘choose zip from sdcard’ to get a list of the files and folders on your SD card. Scroll to the ROM’s file that you copied there in step 3, and select it. You will be prompted to confirm this action. Select ‘Yes – Install file_name.zip’ where file_name.zip is the name of the zip file that you are trying to install.
12. Wait patiently while the ROM is flashed to your phone via recovery.
13. Once the installation is complete, head back to the main recovery menu if you aren’t there, and select ‘reboot system now’. Your phone will now boot into the newly installed ROM.
- The Real Deal: Installing an App From a Zip File to your Phone
While most apps for Android devices are available at the app store for direct download and installation or as .apk files for direct installation, there are certain apps which are only available as zip files installable from recovery. Their installation procedure is the same as installing a custom ROM that we just featured above.
However, there are a few minute differences.
1.When installing an app from a zip file, you do NOT need to perform the ‘wipe data/factory reset’ or ‘wipe/system’ step so NEVER do that unless you know what you are doing, have a complete backup and want to start using your ROM as a fresh installation with the new app added.
2. You might or might not need to wipe the cache and the dalvik cache for installing apps from zip file. This varies from app to app and the developers of such apps as well as many reviewers including us mention when featuring an app whether it requires a cache and dalvik cache wipe or not. However, it never hurts to wipe these caches anyway, and it does not effect the data on your device or its storage card.
There you go, this concludes the guide on how to flash a ROM or app from a zip file to your Android device using a custom recovery. To try out the skills that you just learned, search our site for custom ROMs for your phone and start flashing, always remembering to take backups first!
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