Develop Bugs

Flashing ROMs and backing up apps...

Question, how does backing up Apps with programs like Astro and TI or whatever work? Does it just keep you from having to re-download them from the market when you do a full wipe and flash a ROM? If so, does it restore their market link so that they are updateable? Or do they just do app data?
Sorry, I'm confused. I don't normally have much app data, so I just re-download all my apps each time, and was wondering if I was 'doing it wrong'.
And which program is recommended for backups?

I recommend Titanium Backup, but with the caveat that you should do some research to see how it works. It will back up apps, user settings, and even system settings - but that doesn't mean you can just restore them willy-nilly. For instance, if you backup your apps and app settings, then flash a new ROM, then restore those apps and settings, there may be conflicts between the new ROM and the old programs. It's really more of a just-in-case way to back things up. People have also reported that MyBackup works well. I use TI myself.
In fact, please read this article by flipz (he developed the Fresh ROMs).
All it does is basically takes a snapshot of your system. It copies app files and settings databases. Later, you can restore the apps and data (and even things like account settings and scenes if you know what you're looking for) and be back where you were, as long as things work correctly. There are batch operations, but it all still takes a while to be safe and know that you're not restoring things that will break your system.
It's good, but I recommend a complete nandroid backup (ClockworkMod or Amon RA) if you're not jumping around between ROMs. That's really a better "everything" backup method.
Hope that helps.

[Q] Problems with backups, how to restore missing apps

Dear All
Having a rooted Desire with Froyo and Apps2SD+, i needed to migrate to a bigger 16 GB card. In that (failed) effort I decided to remove all apps and then restore them.
I backed them up via MybAckup Pro and Titanium Backup. Then, after reboot, no backups were detected by TB. I even wrote to the support but no answer. I had to revert to MyBackup Pro which apparently had a mind of its own regarding which apps to restore. Now Google Maps is missing on my phone and neither will it install. Also, com.gapps are closing on me every minute.
I have decided to do a factory reset but it'd be nice if a few questions are answered first:
1) I understand that NANDROID is the best way to back up; however, it doesn't provide me a way to restore apps one by one or in batches. Any solutions?
2) When I do a factory reset, will I end up with a clean phone with root and my current custom ROM, or the phone as it came from Orange?
3) Is there a way to install Google Maps and to remove the gapps errors without factory reset?
4) If I restore from NANDROID after factory reset, will all the errors/instability come back as well?
Thanks

1) Nandroid does an image of your custom phone, like for example Norton Ghost would do. Its like saving the setup/state of the phone at the time you do the backup.
2) A factory reset deletes all user data. You end with your current ROM as it was a clean install, it will not change the ROM you're using. If you're using a custom ROM you will still be with that custom ROM.
3) Can't Google Maps be downloaded from Market? Also you can try to extract the .apk from a ROM and copy it to yours via adb for example. As for the errors I dont really know if they're because data corruption and a reset will fix them or its the apk that isnt working as intended.
4) As I said earlier, doing a Nandroid is doing an image of the current state of the phone. If you do a Nandroid of a phone that has errors and you restore it, the errors wont disapear.
If you want to have a backup of the list of apps you already have you can use AppBrain. Its a little app that syncs your list of apps from the phone into a google account so when you do a full wipe you have only to install that app again and sync with the saved google list of apps. It wont save the data of the aplications but it will save the list of the ones you've installed.

Azureus: That is a most helpful reply, I sincerely appreciate it.
Google maps is not appearing in the market. I tried to sideload it and it still doesn't install. Thanks for the GREAT AppBrain trick.
I would appreciate if you could answer:
1) Which is the best, most stable custom ROM to use with official Froyo+Sense, Apps2SD+ ? I have doubts about stability of current ROM.
2) Which app can enable me to back up apps and then restore them one by one, given that Titanium Backup is not working for me somehow?

1) I personally use OpenDesire and its a non Sense UI ROM, so I dont really know what Sense UI ROM is the best. I've tryed several Sense UI ROMs and two that gave me a good feeling where LeeDrOiD Mod and the official Sense ROM of OpenDesire Team.
2) I've tryed several apps for data backups and the one that I liked most was Titanium Backup... May I ask why isnt working for you? I've tested both the free and donate version and they seem to work pretty well...

Thanks. Will try Leedroid now.
As for titanium, or backs up everything all right but when I try to restore it shows nothing. Don't know why is that

Titanium Backup saves the backups by default in a folder as the same name as the app in your SD. Have you tried deleting all the folder and doing backups again to see if the restore works? You can also go to settings and change the default folder in which it saves the backup to see if its a problem with de folder/SD or its the app.

How do you get Google Backup to Restore Apps (on gingerbread)

My understanding is that GingerBread (2.3.x) will handle automatically restoring your apps after a wipe or you switch between ROM (each with clean wipe).
It asks about "backing up google".
I'm currently using MikG 0.5 and was using MikG RC1 for quite a while (since it was released 3 weeks?).
I was hoping starting with a fresh wipe it would restore my apps but it does not.
I think on one of these gingerbread ROMs (I've tried a bunch) I think it did partially restore apps. Not just paid ones. I forget if it was complete or not.
Is there something explicit you have to do to make this all work?

mswlogo said:
My understanding is that GingerBread (2.3.x) will handle automatically restoring your apps after a wipe or you switch between ROM (each with clean wipe).
It asks about "backing up google".
I'm currently using MikG 0.5 and was using MikG RC1 for quite a while (since it was released 3 weeks?).
I was hoping starting with a fresh wipe it would restore my apps but it does not.
I think on one of these gingerbread ROMs (I've tried a bunch) I think it did partially restore apps. Not just paid ones. I forget if it was complete or not.
Is there something explicit you have to do to make this all work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That still seems to be hit or miss. Is there any reason you're not using Titanium Backup?

-viperboy- said:
That still seems to be hit or miss. Is there any reason you're not using Titanium Backup?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because I don't like it. Recently I wanted to use it for a piece of software for TTS I bought and was no longer available in the Market. And it completely fell on it's face. All I did was copy the APK from system from a restored back up and it installed fine.
I also don't want to restore potentially incompatible apps. I assume Google will trigger Market to install latest right from the start.
I also don't have to explicitly choose what to back up and what to restore.
I've seen the Google Stuff work, and it works well when it works.

mswlogo said:
Because I don't like it. Recently I wanted to use it for a piece of software for TTS I bought and was no longer available in the Market. And it completely fell on it's face. All I did was copy the APK from system from a restored back up and it installed fine.
I also don't want to restore potentially incompatible apps. I assume Google will trigger Market to install latest right from the start.
I also don't have to explicitly choose what to back up and what to restore.
I've seen the Google Stuff work, and it works well when it works.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the problem. Honestly, TB can be complicated to use but what you're describing sounds like user error. You also don't have to explicitly choose what to backup and restore in TB either. Just go into Menu > Batch > Backup all user apps to backup and then Restore all user apps when you want to restore. Then just use the Market to update any out of date apps. It takes forever for the Market to get your apps back anyway, I always use TB and so does almost anyone else on a custom ROM.

Call me a purist, but I don't like Titanium Backup either. Granted, I don't use a ton of market apps, only about a dozen or so ... just not a problem. To get back to the original question, Google has always restored my apps on CM6/7, up to and including the 3-7 gapps. The newer gapps used with Android 2.3.4 are where everything began to break down.

-viperboy- said:
That's the problem. Honestly, TB can be complicated to use but what you're describing sounds like user error. You also don't have to explicitly choose what to backup and restore in TB either. Just go into Menu > Batch > Backup all user apps to backup and then Restore all user apps when you want to restore. Then just use the Market to update any out of date apps. It takes forever for the Market to get your apps back anyway, I always use TB and so does almost anyone else on a custom ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't want to back it up like that. I think it causes problems.
I backed up this app explicitly, went to restore explicitly and it didn't work. Pretty Simple.
I'd like the google feature. I want something that coordinates with the mark app and installs the instead if the backup is old.

mswlogo said:
I don't want to back it up like that. I think it causes problems.
I backed up this app explicitly, went to restore explicitly and it didn't work. Pretty Simple.
I'd like the google feature. I want something that coordinates with the mark app and installs the instead if the backup is old.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good luck

[Q] Cant restore data using MyBackup !! Help!

Hi all,
Last year I backed up all data on my HTC DHD using a 'trial version' of MyBackup.
I then installed XDA ROMS and successfully restored the data using MyBackup.
Recently installed some of the latest XDA ROMS.
I tried to restore my backups using MyBackup Pro - But the application tells me "License has expired".
I was under the impression that by 'unlocking' (?) the phone using AAHK (Advanced Ace Hack Kit) and installing XDA ROMS that one could basically use most 3rd party software apps without the requirement to purchase software licenses?
Am I way off? Do I need to purchase a license for MyBackup?
Is there any other way to restore the data?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated! ( Currently cannot phone anyone without phone numbers restored! :-( )
THANK YOU
MX

Unlocking the phone has nothing to do with not paying for commercial apps, and this certainly isn't the place for that sort of discussion.
There's a free version of MyBackup available for root users with all the features of the full version except for online backups (in the Market named "MyBackup Root" ) - that's what I use and it works just fine. Otherwise, support the devs and pay the pennies for the app.
//sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk; all errors entirely intentional.

You can try nand backups in recovery mode (or rom manager which is basically the same thing)

hopscotchjunkie said:
Unlocking the phone has nothing to do with not paying for commercial apps, and this certainly isn't the place for that sort of discussion.
There's a free version of MyBackup available for root users with all the features of the full version except for online backups (in the Market named "MyBackup Root" ) - that's what I use and it works just fine. Otherwise, support the devs and pay the pennies for the app.
//sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk; all errors entirely intentional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much I will try MyBackup Root !
Could please possibly provide some clarrity for me then so I'm in the clear:
1. Unlocking the phone and installing ROMS originally built for other phones is OK/leagal (because of open source?) ?
2. These ROMS should/will then never come with pre-installed 'commercial' apps (as some of the jail broken Iphone's do?), only free apps?
3. Could you possibly provide a link to information on 'wiping' a phone first before installing new ROMS. I am not able to use any new ROMS with out always receiving 'Force Close' messages or the phone constantly rebooting. I saw in the Q & A that one should always wipe first, i'm just not sure what the best procedure is to do this, i.e how to backup first, and how to wipe.
Thanks again, much appreciated!
MX

MotocRxss said:
Thank you very much I will try MyBackup Root !
Could please possibly provide some clarrity for me then so I'm in the clear:
1. Unlocking the phone and installing ROMS originally built for other phones is OK/leagal (because of open source?) ?
2. These ROMS should/will then never come with pre-installed 'commercial' apps (as some of the jail broken Iphone's do?), only free apps?
3. Could you possibly provide a link to information on 'wiping' a phone first before installing new ROMS. I am not able to use any new ROMS with out always receiving 'Force Close' messages or the phone constantly rebooting. I saw in the Q & A that one should always wipe first, i'm just not sure what the best procedure is to do this, i.e how to backup first, and how to wipe.
Thanks again, much appreciated!
MX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Correct, although as every manufacturer/operator will tell you it will invalidate your warranty. Hence the many threads on how to go back to the stock ROM when making a claim.
2. Again, correct. With the possible exception of commercial apps which were already included as stock (e.g the DHD came with QuickOffice included in the stock ROM, so ROMs built on this base will likely include that).
3. You can manually do it in recovery (wipe data, wipe system, wipe cache, etc) but I prefer the 'Super Wipe' script you can find in the first post of the "Android Revolution HD" thread in the development section. Just flash it in recovery and it will wipe & format all your partitions. That's all I ever use and I've never had any issues.
So first backup your apps, texts and whatever with MyBackup Root. Reboot into recovery and make a full backup (so you can restore back to your current state if something goes wrong). Flash the super wipe script; the phone will reboot to recovery when DONE. Flash the new ROM. Install MyBackup Root and restore the bits you need (but don't restore system data between ROMs, and be wary that restoring data for some apps between ROMs can sometimes cause force close issues). And that's it. Repeat as and when you see a new ROM that you fancy.
//sent from my Desire HD using Tapatalk; all errors entirely intentional.

Thank you very much! I have successfully restored contacts using mybackup root!
And thanks for the explanation and detailed steps to wipe and install! Just installed ICS 9.9.3 without any FC messages or auto reboot problems!!
Sorry, just one more thing, not sure if I need to contact MyBackup directly. I have successfully restored all contacts. I'm now tying to restore all photos. To do this one has to select 'Apps & Media' option. All goes fine (reading contents, extracting zip file) until it then provides the option to tick 'all apps' or 'all photos' or both. When ticking photos only, the following message appears: "Unable to restore 'apps' as the original backup was done when MyBackup did NOT have root access." The app then closes.
Any ideas?
MX

You can try the free version of MyBackup (not Root) to restore your apps.
P.S. I prefer Titanium Backup for backing up my apps+data

MotocRxss said:
Sorry, just one more thing, not sure if I need to contact MyBackup directly. I have successfully restored all contacts. I'm now tying to restore all photos. To do this one has to select 'Apps & Media' option. All goes fine (reading contents, extracting zip file) until it then provides the option to tick 'all apps' or 'all photos' or both. When ticking photos only, the following message appears: "Unable to restore 'apps' as the original backup was done when MyBackup did NOT have root access." The app then closes.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't help you with that, sorry. I've seen that error once before when restoring apps from a backup taken prior to rooting (I think because the original backup was taken without sufficient access rights to backup what it needed), but that shouldn't happen for photos; your photos are stored on the SD card anyway so the backup would just be copying them from one directory on the card to another which shouldn't require root access. Might be worth giving the MyBackup devs a shout.

ernmin said:
You can try the free version of MyBackup (not Root) to restore your apps.
P.S. I prefer Titanium Backup for backing up my apps+data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks but it tells me "Trial version has expired".

hopscotchjunkie said:
Can't help you with that, sorry. I've seen that error once before when restoring apps from a backup taken prior to rooting (I think because the original backup was taken without sufficient access rights to backup what it needed), but that shouldn't happen for photos; your photos are stored on the SD card anyway so the backup would just be copying them from one directory on the card to another which shouldn't require root access. Might be worth giving the MyBackup devs a shout.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I have emailed MyBackup devs.

[Q] Can't run Nandroid backup

Ok forgive me, I'm fairly new to all of this...
So I have the SGH-i317m (Telus version) of the Note II. I rooted it many months ago and everything went great. The other day I decided that I wanted to flash the Jelly Beans rom for it. So I ran a Nanadroid backup of the original rom, then used Titanium Backup to backup my apps. Everything went fine with that. So then I rebooted in recovery and did a data wipe/factory reset and also wiped the partition cache, then flashed the rom. Again everything went smoothly.
Here's where my "newb" side comes to play. After I restored my apps, everything backed up fine other than some of my contacts, text message logs, and call logs. I assume this is because I used the wrong backup setting in Titanium Backup? I think I should have used "Backup all user apps + system data", but instead I used "Backup all user apps" (can anyone verify this?)
So anyways, I went to restore the backup so I could retrieve all of this info. Again I wiped data/factory reset and wiped the cache before running the backup (which was a zip on the external sd card). Almost immediately I received a message saying "error while restoring /system!"
So I did some reading and found a thread saying that it didn't work because the nandroid backup can only backup the original rom. So I reflashed the stock firmware (again doing the full wipe), and that didn't work either giving me a message saying "can't open "file name" (bad). Installation aborted".
Can you guys give me a hand? When I try flashing the Jelly Beans rom (also I've flashed the Clean rom as well), they both work fine. I just get troubles trying to run my backup or installing the stock firmware.
Sorry for the length, I just wanted to make sure I provided as many of the details as I could. Thanks!

First yous should Never backup/restore system apps/data. It is a sure way to cause FC.
Second if you want to backup SMS/MMS hit menu on Titanium Backup and scroll down to Backup data to xml. If you don't care about MMS download SMS Backup & Restore from the market (free) as the backup/restore process will be a lot quicker.
What recovery are you using? There apps that let you explore the Backups and retrieve some information. In fact even Titanium Backup PRO restores certain items from nandroids so it's worth checking out.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk 4

I was having an issue restoring the system partition. Data was failing, but running system alone I saw it said:
Can't read: misc/audit/audit/audit/audit/audit/audit/audit...
That went on forever.
It never skipped it, was just stuck trying to read the folder it was in.
Any ideas what could cause this?
I went back to stock so it's not pressing, but I don't want to do it again
Killed one of my backups.
I'm using TWRP 2.6.1.0
Backup had been successful. Restoring it would seem ok until phone reset/shut off. Then would hang on boot.
I got curious and tried restoring partitions individually to see what would happen.
Data always failed and system did that infinite directory thing.
If anyone's got any ideas what I should avoid doing so I don't mess up another backup, I'd appreciate it

The data partition is usually your photos, music, and movies. You should move all that stuff to your external sd card before you make a nandroid. Some versions of custom recoveries have a limit on the size of the backup, so if you have a lot of media in there, it will cause a nandroid to fail.

Jibust I just used the recovery that is already on the phone by pressing volume up/power/home at the same time. You said that there are apps that will retrieve information from my backups? Is this my only option? There is no way to run my backup now? It seems strange that I can't run it in the first place. It seems like it should be a fairly straight forward process. If there is no way to run my full backup, can you give me more details on how to use these apps to pull info from the backups?
Thank you

*Canucklehead* said:
Jibust I just used the recovery that is already on the phone by pressing volume up/power/home at the same time. You said that there are apps that will retrieve information from my backups? Is this my only option? There is no way to run my backup now? It seems strange that I can't run it in the first place. It seems like it should be a fairly straight forward process. If there is no way to run my full backup, can you give me more details on how to use these apps to pull info from the backups?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at the apps in this search, https://play.google.com/store/search?q=nandroid I have used the Nandroid Manager app, I haven't tried the other ones. Just make sure to read the description as not all of the apps will be able to explore/restore from all types of backups. Warning: I have never tried this, only seen people use it, some of the apps have xda threads so I suggest you take a look.
Also, as mentioned Titanium Backup Pro (at least I use the Pro version) has a feature to restore selected data from the nandroid backup. I have tried it and it works, so maybe you only need to use TB and don't have to purchase another app.
Edit: tried to restore apps from a nandroid using TB and had a FC, so you might want to try one of the other apps.

Nandroid Manager
I have used Nandroid Manager to recover individual apps + data - worth a try. Although people report mixed results.