To wipe or not to wipe

[Guest billybiro]

Hi all,

I have a UK San Francisco with an OLED display. Currently, I'm running Japanese Jellyfish RLS9. Previously, I was running Japanese Jellyfish RLS6.

Now, I have read the JJ thread regarding doing a full wipe of data/cache when going to RLS9 from RLS7 or earlier versions, however, I decided that I'd just go for it and install JJ RLS9 without doing the full wipe. I did a full nandroid backup in case anything went wrong, then used ClockworkMod 2.5.1.8 to install the JJ RLS9 update, right over the top of the JJ RLS6 installation. Also please note that the only other "add-ons" for JJ that I'm using is the "circle battery indicator".

Now.. I know the deal, no wipe no whine, but I'm not about to whine, quite the opposite in fact. The funny thing is, despite NOT doing a full wipe, everything seems to be working FINE! All my apps are fine (and related data), and all my contacts etc. and other google-sync'd data seems fine.

So, my question is more of a hypothetical one... As I didn't do the full wipe, what kind of issues could I expect to happen as a direct result of that? I've been running with RLS9 for about a month now with no apparent issues at all, so I'm wondering what issues I could likely expect, if any?

Despite all this, I know I haven't "followed the rules", so this kind of thing plays on my mind. I'm tempted to actually re-do the whole thing, starting with a proper full wipe, but I'd really rather avoid having to completely setting up my phone again if I can at all help it.

So, what does the full wipe actually accomplish (apart from the obvious) and what untoward things may happen as a result of NOT doing a full wipe?

Thanks.

[Guest Swimmerboy]

So, what does the full wipe actually accomplish (apart from the obvious) and what untoward things may happen as a result of NOT doing a full wipe?

It ensures that all files are updated, including removing outdated libraries etc. By not doing a full wipe you may have legacy files left over in the system that may interfere with the operation of the phone and cause instabilities and unpredictable behavior.

That said if you've been using it like that for a month without issue you'll likely not see any problems.