[Galaxy S I9000 Android Development] vasra:
Warning! DataFix_29032012 can seriously destroy your build

Thanks for this tip. However, all is not well in the land of Datafix, so let this be a warning for newbies (who should not be using this script to begin with).

1. Had a marvelously working elite beta 10.1 installation working.

2. Installed too many apps

3. /datadata started becoming too full

4. Had all sorts of odd force closes, browsers saving memory way too agressively and forgetting pages, multitasking becoming unbearably slow, etc.

5. Confirmed via Root Explorer that /datadata was indeed almost full (who ever at Samsung came up with the ridiculous 170MB size for oneNAND should be shot, it's not anywhere near enough for moderate-to-heavy modern smartphone use).

6. Manually uninstalled several applications via the standards ICS app manager / uninstaller

7. This did *NOT* release enough space under /datadata

8. Downloaded, moved to internal storage the datafix version : DataFix_10042012.zip

9. Booted in CWM Recovery

10. Ran DataFix_10042012.zip via install zip from sdcard

11. Rebooted and phone started up fine

12. Went to see /datadata size in Root explorer. No changes, no space recovered.

13. Rechecked my busybox installation (1.19.3 properly running at /system/xbin)

14. Rechecked that my kernel allows init.d scripts (Semaphore 1.0s via Semaphore manager)

14. Rebooted into CWM Recovery and did clear init.d and clear NStools. Rebooted normally

15. No changes in /datadata size

16. Downloaded, transferred to phone and ran "DataFix_29032012.zip" (notice version change!) from CWM recovery. Rebooted

17. Big mistake: boot loop ran for an hour.

18. Force rebooted into CWM recovery, cleared init.d and NStools settings and Dalwik cache

19. Rebooted succesfully back into Android

20. End result:

- toggles gone (can't even mount usb shares on Windows anymore)

- Desktop got wiped and can't install wallpaper anymore (stays the same, regardless of how many times I set it)

- Lost "People/Contacts" apk completely

- Notification/status bar is gone - can't enable

- multiple force closes

- And yes, now /datadata has 50MB of free space :)

21. Tried full NAND restore from an earlier point before trying any of the aforementioned datafixes. That didn't help at all. All the above problems remained and after restore I got a couple of additional problems. BTW, the NAND backup I restored was from a previous day, from exact same ROM/KERNEL/toggles/T9dialer/everything else except datafix changes version as the one I was trying to restore it on. So NAND backup/restore isn't your saviour either, just so you know.

So, now I have an unworking installation, that I have to fully zap and revert back to wipe reflash and manual install back everything, to get it working. If I do it via Titanium batch full restore, I'll just end up with a datadata that is too full.

So my advice is: once you have installed a clean ROM, keep installing your most crucial apps and keep watching /datadata free space. Remember, you have to start/use the installed apps, so that they save their stuff on datadata, so you get an idea of their space usage. Once datadata free space starts running low, just stop. Stop installing. That's it, you can't install anymore apps. You're fuxored. Wait for a better ROM, a better phone or somebody to come up with a better fix for this.

Really people, there has to be a better way.

If this is the reason why so many ROMs fail actual real-world heavy usage, then somebody must have figured out something more durable, bullet-proof and sturdy than the aforementioned datafix scripts, right? Of course there is the move everything to moviNAND and welcome back Samsung lag, sigh.

And I mean no disrespect as I know how difficult it is to code a shell script for all possible configurations.

However, I can now with experience say that no, datafix script is not a fix for me.

So, user beware. The Datafix scripts can cause you a lot of grief.

Take all (not just NAND!) backups AND be prepared to spend an extra day of your work time restoring everything (i.e. imagine that your time is free). Fortunately I'm at flu and away from work so I can afford this luxury :)

PS. The next phone I buy I have to know the whole memory storage structure down to partition size and speed of each memory type. It's just silly how difficult it is to select/buy/operate a modern smart phone efficiently...