Hongmi WCDMA cache partition wiping duration

[loko]

I have two original Hongmi WCDMA phones, which are somewhat different. I would like to know if anyone experiences a similar situation.

Both devices seem to be 2013023 versions. Both CPU-Z and CPU / RAM / DEVICE Identifier reports are identical.

The first device ordered late January is produced in January 2014, while the second device ordered late February is produced in November 2013, so it is an older device. These manufacturing dates are printed in the back of the boxes.

While both are WCDMA models, the older device seemed to be a China Unicom branded version, while the newer one seemed to be unbranded.

In the older device, wiping the cache partition from the recovery lasts 75 seconds for the first time, while 5 seconds if the partition is already formatted and being formatted again. After normal booting the device even once, wiping the cache partition from the recovery lasts again 75 seconds.

In the newer device, wiping the cache partition from the recovery lasts always 2 seconds, no matter if the cache partition is already formatted or not.

There seem to be no other difference between the devices. At first, I thought the second device could be somewhat malfunctioning, but I checked it using SP Flash Tool and it seems to be OK.

BEWARE, before using SP Flash Tool, BACKUP ALL PARTITIONS using the "Readback (F10)" option, ESPECIALLY the NVRAM partition starting at 0xE00000 and having a length of 0x500000.

I upgraded the older branded version using updated partition images found in "Xiaomi Hongmi WCDMA - unbrick 5.0.zip" and got rid of the annoying China Unicom branding.

I did not upgrade the newer unbranded version, because some partition contents seemed to be slightly different than those found in "Xiaomi Hongmi WCDMA - unbrick 5.0.zip" partition images, and since the device was produced in January 2014, I suspected that there could be newer versions.

Runing AnTuTu Benchmark on both devices, Device Info was identical, and all Test Details were almost identical, except UX Runtime, where the older device had a score around 1000, while the newer device had a score around 300. I repeatedly run AnTuTu Benchmark, producing consistently the same results. Runing also AnTuTu Benchmark X on both devices, produced the same results as AnTuTu Benchmark.

I decided to also upgrade the newer unbranded version using updated partition images found in "Xiaomi Hongmi WCDMA - unbrick 5.0.zip".

Now, all AnTuTu Benchmark Test Details are almost identical, including UX Runtime. So it seems that it was worth also upgrading the newer device.

But the difference in wiping the cache partition from the recovery still exists.

If the difference was something like 10 versus 15 seconds, I could accept it as being normal between different hardware revisions of the phone. But 75 versus 2 seconds seems quite different.

The strange thing is that I do not have any other issues with the phones.

What is your opinion about this issue? Are both behaviours normal? How long does it take for your phone to wipe the cache partition from the recovery?

 

[doongoo]

made my last wipe cache and wipe dalvik the day before yesterday. Wiping took approximately (both together) 5 seconds

 

[loko]

The same behaviour is also exhibited by selecting "Settings" --> "Backup & reset" --> "Factory data reset", where cache wiping is obviously invoked, so the older device shows the Android robot for about a minute, while the newer one for just a couple of seconds.

Well, wiping cache in Mi3 MI-Recovery 2.0.1 also takes a long time, in fact after 10 seconds the counter stucks on 98% for about half a minute, while rewiping the cache takes just 5 seconds. This is why I am not terrified by this behaviour, but I would appreciate finding out that there are also other devices needing 75 seconds to wipe the cache, while other ones need just two seconds.

One weird thing is that selecting wipe data/factory reset in the original recovery, does not actually return the device in a factory condition. Factory reset normally means that the data partition is completely formatted, removing any installed applications along with their settings. In this phone's recovery, wipe data/factory reset means that all system settings are cleared, along with all application user settings, while leaving the applications themselves installed. You have to select "Settings" --> "Backup & reset" --> "Factory data reset" --> "Erase apps" to actually factory reset the phone. That seems weird to me, Xiaomi should call the option just wipe data, not wipe data/factory reset.

 

[MikelFuchs]

I have two original Hongmi WCDMA phones, which are somewhat different. I would like to know if anyone experiences a similar situation.

Both devices seem to be 2013023 versions. Both CPU-Z and CPU / RAM / DEVICE Identifier reports are identical.

The first device ordered late January is produced in January 2014, while the second device ordered late February is produced in November 2013, so it is an older device. These manufacturing dates are printed in the back of the boxes.

While both are WCDMA models, the older device seemed to be a China Unicom branded version, while the newer one seemed to be unbranded.

In the older device, wiping the cache partition from the recovery lasts 75 seconds for the first time, while 5 seconds if the partition is already formatted and being formatted again. After normal booting the device even once, wiping the cache partition from the recovery lasts again 75 seconds.

In the newer device, wiping the cache partition from the recovery lasts always 2 seconds, no matter if the cache partition is already formatted or not.

There seem to be no other difference between the devices. At first, I thought the second device could be somewhat malfunctioning, but I checked it using SP Flash Tool and it seems to be OK.

BEWARE, before using SP Flash Tool, BACKUP ALL PARTITIONS using the "Readback (F10)" option, ESPECIALLY the NVRAM partition starting at 0xE00000 and having a length of 0x500000.

I upgraded the older branded version using updated partition images found in "Xiaomi Hongmi WCDMA - unbrick 5.0.zip" and got rid of the annoying China Unicom branding.

I did not upgrade the newer unbranded version, because some partition contents seemed to be slightly different than those found in "Xiaomi Hongmi WCDMA - unbrick 5.0.zip" partition images, and since the device was produced in January 2014, I suspected that there could be newer versions.

Runing AnTuTu Benchmark on both devices, Device Info was identical, and all Test Details were almost identical, except UX Runtime, where the older device had a score around 1000, while the newer device had a score around 300. I repeatedly run AnTuTu Benchmark, producing consistently the same results. Runing also AnTuTu Benchmark X on both devices, produced the same results as AnTuTu Benchmark.

I decided to also upgrade the newer unbranded version using updated partition images found in "Xiaomi Hongmi WCDMA - unbrick 5.0.zip".

Now, all AnTuTu Benchmark Test Details are almost identical, including UX Runtime. So it seems that it was worth also upgrading the newer device.

But the difference in wiping the cache partition from the recovery still exists.

If the difference was something like 10 versus 15 seconds, I could accept it as being normal between different hardware revisions of the phone. But 75 versus 2 seconds seems quite different.

The strange thing is that I do not have any other issues with the phones.

What is your opinion about this issue? Are both behaviours normal? How long does it take for your phone to wipe the cache partition from the recovery?

Do both devices have the same recovery installed?

Another idea (although I don't really think this can be the reason) would be to check if the producer of your internal memory is different:
Install Mobileuncle tools, start Engineer Mode (MTK), switch to Hardware Testing, choose Memory and then EMMC.

The 2nd line gives you the manfid, for mine sandisk is displayed.

 

[loko]

Do both devices have the same recovery installed?

Another idea (although I don't really think this can be the reason) would be to check if the producer of your internal memory is different:
Install Mobileuncle tools, start Engineer Mode (MTK), switch to Hardware Testing, choose Memory and then EMMC.

The 2nd line gives you the manfid, for mine sandisk is displayed.

Both devices have the same version of the original recovery installed, since I restored them using "Xiaomi Hongmi WCDMA - unbrick 5.0.zip". It would be worth checking the producer of the internal memory. Unfortunately, I am not being able to perform any additional testing, because I have already gifted both devices to close friends. Thank you for your reply anyway.