[Dave12308]

Well, I am a tinkerer at heart. The type of guy who builds his own computer systems from scratch and overclocks them all to h-e-double-hockey-sticks and back. So, i'm thinking.... My Storm came with 4.7.0.75; I tried .90, .99, .103, and .114 on it without wiping. If I had a PC that came with Windows 95, I wouldn't have just kept doing upgrade installs of Windows, I would have formatted clean and installed the new version.

So I decided to do the same with the Storm. Did a fresh install of the .114 leak to the PC; and copied the blackberryos.com bbcrackman hybrid files over (kept hearing it was the best ever). Downloaded JLCommander and did a device wipe. Had a massive coronary or 3 trying to get loader.exe to connect (and thanks to the CB forums for somewhat alleviating my fear) the .114 hybrid was on it's way to my freshly wiped Storm (minus a few nonessentials removed via crackmem). Upon first boot, I was sitting at 58.7mb free app memory. I didn't even know this was possible.

After redownloading my apps, and doing a battery pull, I was at 40.5mb free (again, about 8mb higher than I was used to seeing).... I then played Aces Solitaire, PBA Bowling (got a 206 ), sent a couple of BB messages, and messed with Google Maps. After checking my memory again, I was up to 40.7mb free app memory. I don't believe i've EVER seen my Storm GAIN memory after running apps before. I don't know if it was the device wipe, the hybrid, or a combination of both......

But as of now, i'm a huge believer in device wiping before OS installation. I purposely skipped the 3rd party app backup as all of mine were easily reobtainable; however I don't think that would have added much complexity. The trickiest part was getting the Java VM to connect, but it's just a matter of timing. All in all, a positive experience.

[gotblackberry]

I believe in it too. It just makes sense.

[pricej636]

I dunno, I've done it both ways and I can't say I've seen much of a difference. If you have a bricked phone I could see going through the whole wiping process, but for a simple OS upgrade my opinion is there really is no benefit, at least no benefit that I can see.

I'm sure others have their own opinion, and I'm not saying they are wrong. Just not worth it in my book

[JRSCCivic98]

All OS loads erases the previous OS prior to install of new if done through DM. If I'm right only the OTA upgrades are upgrades. And if I'm right those upgrades are binary patches to the previous OS files turning them into the new OS files. It doesn't replace them, but actually change the bits on the files to match up to what the new files are.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

[o2sys]

Could be a placebo effect maybe? I also never saw the need or the difference of using JL comd.

[Ultrafied]

After checking my memory again, I was up to 40.7mb free app memory. I don't believe i've EVER seen my Storm GAIN memory after running apps before. I don't know if it was the device wipe, the hybrid, or a combination of both......

Even with my 0.76 i gain memory back. It's pretty easy to follow with Memory/Battery meter. Especially noticable if the Storm is left sitting for awhile. Run almost any application and I will gain memory back (noticable memory, like 3-5 mgb).

[Dave12308]

Well, like I did say, I am not sure if it was the device wipe, or bbcrackman's .114 hybrid. Whatever it was, it worked wonders. Like I said, I am a tinkerer, it was fun bricking my phone on purpose and reviving it.

[Dave12308]

Even with my 0.76 i gain memory back. It's pretty easy to follow with Memory/Battery meter. Especially noticable if the Storm is left sitting for awhile. Run almost any application and I will gain memory back (noticable memory, like 3-5 mgb).

I wish I had your Storm..... Mine with any OS i've run prior has gone from around 32mb off a fresh battery pull to ~4.5 or so overnight, sitting there doing nothing except receiving messages.

[pricej636]

All OS loads erases the previous OS prior to install of new if done through DM. If I'm right only the OTA upgrades are upgrades. And if I'm right those upgrades are binary patches to the previous OS files turning them into the new OS files. It doesn't replace them, but actually change the bits on the files to match up to what the new files are.

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com

I thought this was the case as well with the DM upgrade, but I wasnt sure so I didnt say it lol.

[Beau79]

is anyone having horrible battery life with hybrid os? I swear my phone drops 5% everytime I check the battery life doing nothing but sitting there receiving a message every now and then.

[jbharman45]

I got exactly the same result as you without wiping the Storm first. And, I hate to tell you, but modern philosophy of OS points out that you are going to a LOT of needless work if you wipe and format to install a new OS, especially with modern SATA drives. You get the same result by just installing the OS fresh on the existing drive and moving data as needed. You get a new fresh OS and don't have to reload all your static data. I suspect that this is also what happens with the OS load on the Storm. I makes sense to me, at least. And yes, I have been doing computers since the mid-70's and this stuff changes all the time!

[djm1947]

I have installed OS's both ways numerous times and I don't see a difference, other than it takes longer when I wipe first.

I have not wiped for the last five installs and I am not experiencing any difficulties that are not application specific.

[Exorcist]

Basically either way works, its just all about prefrence