- #1
- 2,116
- 2,691
Finally, after a lot of hesitation, I rooted my phone (Samsung Galaxy On7, Android 6.0.1) using Magisk systemless root. The main aim was to remove pre-installed useless software (often termed "bloatware").
I didn't want to flash Magisk using TWRP, because installing TWRP would remove the stock recovery, and I would never get it back. I tried rooting using the Magisk installer itself, but it failed. So I had to unwillingly install TWRP first (thereby losing the stock recovery). I tried doing that using ADB (actually fastboot), but it couldn't recognise the device in bootloader mode. So I downloaded Odin and flashed TWRP. Then I flashed the Magisk zip file.
After the flashing was over, I also cleared the Dalvik cache, not knowing that this was not necessary. When I rebooted the phone, it took a long time to boot. It was showing, "Optimizing apps". I thought I had cracked the phone up and it was a boot loop. But later I found that everything was fine. In addition, clearing of the Dalvik cache actually freed up the internal memory by about 1GB.
I read online that Dalvik cache is actually the optimized dex files that the dex compiler builds to ensure the smooth running of applications. Now, the last official update to this phone was back in April 2018. Is it possible that the phone retained the cache of all apps since then, including the ones I had uninstalled? It seems so, otherwise how could I recover about 1GB of memory simply by clearing the Dalvik cache?
If I am correct that clearing the Dalvik cache freed up space, does it make sense to clear the Dalvik cache periodically, say annually, so as to prevent misuse of the "precious" internal memory?
I didn't want to flash Magisk using TWRP, because installing TWRP would remove the stock recovery, and I would never get it back. I tried rooting using the Magisk installer itself, but it failed. So I had to unwillingly install TWRP first (thereby losing the stock recovery). I tried doing that using ADB (actually fastboot), but it couldn't recognise the device in bootloader mode. So I downloaded Odin and flashed TWRP. Then I flashed the Magisk zip file.
After the flashing was over, I also cleared the Dalvik cache, not knowing that this was not necessary. When I rebooted the phone, it took a long time to boot. It was showing, "Optimizing apps". I thought I had cracked the phone up and it was a boot loop. But later I found that everything was fine. In addition, clearing of the Dalvik cache actually freed up the internal memory by about 1GB.
I read online that Dalvik cache is actually the optimized dex files that the dex compiler builds to ensure the smooth running of applications. Now, the last official update to this phone was back in April 2018. Is it possible that the phone retained the cache of all apps since then, including the ones I had uninstalled? It seems so, otherwise how could I recover about 1GB of memory simply by clearing the Dalvik cache?
If I am correct that clearing the Dalvik cache freed up space, does it make sense to clear the Dalvik cache periodically, say annually, so as to prevent misuse of the "precious" internal memory?