Replicant

You probably selected the wrong option in ClockWorkMod. The one to use in order to format the partition (instead of mounting it and wiping some of the data) is: format /data and /data/media (/sdcard) from mounts and storage.

Please let me know whether that is the case so that I can close this issue.

I was worried you'd have me do that. I need to find a reliable way to back up my data. My backup this time was a bust again.

Sorry about that, but that's how it is with debugging such issues. I have lost my data countless times in the process of developing Replicant!

Anyway, I tried again, and this time, that option worked. I don't know if I had a damaged copy of Replicant at the time (I had to reinstall not too long ago due to some sort of break, meaning that any damaged components were replaced) or I was mistaken that that was one of the options I tried.

That makes sense, thanks for the confirmation.

An issue remains though. The intuitive way to wipe the device is from in Replicant itself ((Replicant) > Settings > Backup & reset > Factory data reset > Reset phone). When trying to perform a wipe, it will fail if the device is encrypted (yes, I checked that method again too, while I was at it). My guess is that Replicant is trying to use the "(ClockworkMod) > wipe data/factory reset" method, when it should be trying to use the working "(ClockworkMod) > Mounts and Storage > format /data and /media (/sdcard) method.

I haven't looked so much in that direction but on first approach, it seems to make sense. The Factory data reset thing is not supposed to wipe the internal storage data, while the recovery format does. It makes sense to me that this fails as wiping the internal storage along with data doesn't seem like expected behavior. So there is a trade-off to do here, and I think the current one is the right thing to do.

I'll mark this issue as closed, but feel free to continue the discussion if you disagree with my approach.