[Verizon Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge] blkt:
New Verizon S6 Edge (sitting in the box for 1-2 years) and I used the OEM adaptive fast charger to bring it from zero to 100% and then waited 10-15 minutes.

I used the built-in OTA updater, not Samsung/Verizon's Software Upgrade Assistant, and went through 11 system updates over the course of 2-3 hours. Out of curiosity, would using the SUA have reduced the number of updates to apply? Edit: I am almost certain now SUA updates straight to the current build (based on their wording, link at bottom). Apparently if I wanted to go straight to current system build, I should have used SUA or a tool such as Odin to flash the stock firmware directly.

Here is a list of the software builds I went through:

G925VVRU3BOG5 - This was the build on my phone out of the box.

G925VVRU4BOG7

G925VVRU4BOG9

G925VVRU4BOK7

G925VVRU4CPC2 - This is the first official build of Marshmallow for this phone. After update success, I decided to wait a few minutes and then restart the phone.

G925VVRU4CPD2 - I received error 404 after automatic download failed. Manual download attempt OTA was successful.

G925VVRU4CPF4 - I received error 401 after answering no to the automatic download request because I was trying to prevent the error above. Manual download attempt OTA was successful.

G925VVRU4CPH1

G925VVRS4CPI2

G925VVRU4CPK2

G925VVRS4CPL3 - My battery charge ticked down from 41% to 40% just before I applied this update, 35% upon completion/success message.

G925VVRS4CQA3 - This is the last Marshmallow build available for this phone.

On Verizon's webpage it says to have at least 40% charge or 20% when hooked up to the charger. I am worried because I did not connect my phone back up to the charger for these last two updates. The last one really bothers me because it was 34% when applied and 29% upon completion/success message. Is there a way to verify everything was written correctly? Should I even be worried?

With exception of a few failed downloads, all updates -when applied- said successful first try.

I have the understanding that it is important to wipe (system) cache partition and wipe data/factory reset from the recovery menu after major system updates to avoid all sorts of potential problems. So, here are my questions:

Does wipe data/factory reset from the recovery menu also wipe (system) cache partition? If not, should I wipe cache partition before or after? I have found conflicting information on this. Edit: It is so confusing because when you search around there are tutorials only mentioning the reset, others saying to wipe cache before reset and vice versa! There are also people going as far as doing both of these before -and- after a system update! :eek: Edit 2: It appears that wipe data/factory reset formats /data, /cache and /sbfs partitions. So, wipe cache partition is redundant when performing a factory reset from the recovery menu.

Both of these videos demonstrate wipe cache partition followed by wipe data/factory reset. You will see /cache is unnecessarily formatted twice (picard facepalm).

https://youtu.be/-Y-aHwdjAZA?t=175

https://youtu.be/NUsV75KFLzA?t=65

Note: there is no Google account to remove (Factory Reset Protection/FRP, Google Account Lock etc) as this is a new phone.

I am under the impression that I should clear all app cache, app data and maybe reset network settings before I attempt the recovery menu methods above. This is overkill/redundant, right? Edit: All this stuff appears to be stored in somewhere in /data (even an app's cache, within a subfolder of each app).

Aside from backup (in my case does not apply), is there anything I should do before (or after) recovery menu wipe(s)? I want to ensure clean slate. Edit: It seems wiping /data and /cache is all you can do in terms of user-accessible data.

I notice there is a "Factory data reset" option from within the OS under Settings: Backup and Reset. Does this behave any differently from the recovery menu method? Edit: I found via thedroidguy.com that it does not reformat the /data partition as the recovery menu reset does but only clears it. It also has Backup and Restore options. Are there any other differences? Does it clear other partitions than /data?

Also, I notice in Settings: About Phone: Status there is "Factory data reset". For me, it says "Unknown". I assume this value is a counter, log or timestamp of the last known factory data reset(s). Maybe it is only triggered when the reset is performed within the OS, but I have no idea. Anyone know what this really is? Will a recovery menu factory reset trigger it?

Under Settings: Storage there is Cached Data. If I clear this, does it include all application cache -and- all application data or just the app cache? Edit: I am pretty sure now it just clears all applications' cache, so it shouldn't affect anything unless maybe an app is poorly coded and stores things in cache that should be elsewhere. On a related note, when clearing app data from apps individually its app cache will also be cleared. I am not sure if clearing Cached Data from this Storage menu touches the system cache partition.

Any documentation or links would be very much appreciated; I am running out of steam here sifting through search results with different keywords and modifiers.

If anything I said is wrong or not entirely correct please say so!

Links:

https://android.stackexchange.com/q...set-exactly-the-same-as-wiping-data-and-cache

https://android.stackexchange.com/q...-factory-reset-and-clean-the-phone-completely

http://thedroidguy.com/2015/08/sams...-cache-partition-factory-master-reset-1048263

http://www.addictivetips.com/mobile...plained-boot-system-recovery-data-cache-misc/

http://www.androidcentral.com/android-201-how-and-when-clear-app-cache-or-data

https://www.verizonwireless.com/support/knowledge-base-80200/