I am definately a beginner at this so any experienced help would be much appreciated.
I want to try out some new roms but im not 100% sure of ALL the steps
1) do I have to do a wipe/factory reset every time before installing a rom
2) do I have to do a nandroid backup everytime
3) Is there a way to save my settings in a particular rom so that it makes it easy to switch back and forth
I'd also like some insight on what roms have an everyday functionality to them. I am running the C-6 rc1 version of Froyo and love it. Only prob is battery life. But i would like to know what other roms work well for everyday use.
Much appreciated people!
1. do so unless instructed by the dev that you dont have to. But always wipe when switching between different roms (e.g cm6-fresh)
2.no, just make sure you have at least 1 good one
3. Not entirely, you can use something like titanium backup though in order to backup settings for specific applications, which could be used to save your custom keyboard dictionary, text messages, and things like that. It can also be used to backup downloaded aps etc.
4. Try a rom like fresh, damage control, baked something. there are so many. I use cm6 so I have no experience with the above
..here is a cute little thread with what some people are using:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=733732&highlight=rom
don't know how statistically accurate it is, but it gives you an idea of the top roms I think who knows D;
What about radios?
I'm running a rooted 1.47.651.1 with the latest radio and wimax (whitslack's fix). Will I need to flash the radio and wimax again if I flash fresh 1.0.1 or something else?
Read the dev forums and all the Wikis.
If something is not clear, read them again.
Then flash and search for any issue you run into.
no radio and wimax are neither backed up or restored during a nandroid, nor are they touched when flashing a new rom unless the dev specifically made the rom to flash the radio also (and I do not think anyone does this)
3) Is there a way to save my settings in a particular rom so that it makes it easy to switch back and forth
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
actually the best way i have found to switch between roms and keep settings - nandroid.
If you are trying multiple roms just make a nandroid once you have it all set up if you later switch to a new rom and want to go back and not have to set everything up just restore that nandroid. Since you probably will know that you want to go back you can store them on a pc if you want to save space and dont switch often. Just remember to always keep at least 1 good back up on the phone.
I rename the back ups to reflect the rom and then switch at will takes about 10 minutes or whatever to do the restore but in my opinion easier then having to titanium back up and re set up all your widgets if you switch a lot. I do use titanium back up for other reasons and NEW roms its great for but if you switch a lot or are testing to see this may be a "easier" option
see signature for daily driver (everyday use rom) and the ones i play with. I personally feel DamageControl gives the best battery life for my device. It is also very stable (though most 2.1 roms are now yay amazing devs )
Using Nandroid to reinstall custom ROMs
I was wondering about that. Would the following strategy work?
1) Wipe as needed and then flash a new ROM.
2) Use Titanium Backup to restore the apps and data you want restored.
3) When the new ROM is all fixed up how you like it, make a nandroid backup of it.
4) Repeat step 1-3 with a different new ROM.
5) When or if you decide to start using one of the previously tried ROMs again, instead of repeating steps 1-3, simply restore the nandroid backup of that ROM.
Wouldn't that work? Wouldn't the nandroid backup restore the custom ROM complete with all the apps and data you restored to it?
Thanks.
--VI
Related
Quick Question, I have full root with credit due to the many people that helped me get there ; )
If i backup with Nandroid and use Titanium backup to back up my files and setting.
Can i then flash a differnt rom like (Fresh) to check it out?
Then
If i want to restore my previous rom can i just run nandroid to restore my backup?
Nandroid restores everything. Its complete in every way.
Backups like my backup and titanium can get most of your apps and some settings on any rom you install but most of your setup settings trend to not restore. Some apps can have issues from time to time. Any issues are easy to fix just install and reinstall from market.
Also you can have multiple nandroids and switch back and forth. So if you like two roms get them set as you like and nandroid. Do the same with any others and you can go back and forth. You can also rename them on your sd card.
yup , thats primarily why i use nandroid, and why its so friggin great. i think clockworkrecovery has the option to automatically create nandroid backups on a timely basis. i havent tried it out, but if you wanna make sure you backup your data frequently to prevent any loss of info, sounds like a good option to check out too.
what rom are you on? I was on fresh, and its a great rom but it got slow on me after a few days. i would suggest damagecontrol, cause its known to give a increase in battery life and was completely stable and fast on mine
Damage's rom is great. I'm also running v7 of froyo I forget who is doing it though.
Aridon said:
Also you can have multiple nandroids and switch back and forth. So if you like two roms get them set as you like and nandroid. Do the same with any others and you can go back and forth. You can also rename them on your sd card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is great, thanks a ton guys!
I've searched for this and cant find the info I need so be easy on me, i'm new to android but loving it. On windows mobile when you backed up your device and then did a firmware upgrade you couldnt just do a restore because of the changed registry settings and other issues that went along with it, you had to restore the software 1 at a time all over again. On the evo I have backed up with Titanium backup and mybackuppro. When froyo comes out (or any other upgrade) , will these backup softwares restore your phone to the way it was before without your phone being all screwed up, or do you have the same issues as windows mobile, and also does it matter if the phone is rooted or not, on how the restore process works? Thanks for any help in advance
Those programs back stuff up like bookmarks, user dictionary and home screen setup just fine and restore things like that very well. System settings and such tend to not backup well. Most applications will also backup and restore just fine although some paid / protected apps may need to be downloaded again but for the most part they restore just fine.
Nandroid does a complete and full backup of everything for complete restores should something you flash not be too you liking. Once you finish all the root / recovery steps that option will be in your recovery menu (phone off, power on while holding down volume, select recovery).
Both have their uses. Nandroid takes you back in time to a different rom or kernel or whatever while a program like mybackup pro make it less painful to get all your stuff back if you want to try out another rom.
It should be noted that a Nandroid restore is only supposed to work on the same OS version that it was backed up on.
ramiss said:
It should be noted that a Nandroid restore is only supposed to work on the same OS version that it was backed up on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What?
Nandroid works regardless of what rom you had before or what you recently flashed. You can have fresh or damage control, nandroid and try froyo and go right back to the sense rom regardless if its a 2.1 or 2.2.
You can set up three plus different roms and use a new one each day. There is no limitation of using froyo (2.2) and going to a 2.1 rom like damage or an asop rom if we ever get one.
Just wipe cache and dalvik before running the nandroid or flashing a new rom that isn't a direct decedent (fresh .2 to .3)
Aridon said:
What?
Nandroid works regardless of what rom you had before or what you recently flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, but you can't go back to say 1.5. So there is a point at which too much change in the OS will cause issues with the restore. I agree that within a few minor version points it is fine but I wanted to be conservative in my answer.
Ok , I think I have a good grip on it now. When I upgrade to froyo I will have to use Titanium or mybackuppro to restore my apps(one by one, or batch method) and maybe some of my settings, I can then use my nandroid backup if I dont want froyo anymore and want to go back to my old stock 2.1 sprint rom and have an identical image to restore, is this correct? Thanks for all the help.
Was wanting some more help with rooting my Evo for the first time. I know there are a lot of guides for n00bs out there but this stuff moves too fast and they are out of date.
Anyways, my phone is stock:
-Android 2.2
-Software number 3.29.651.5
-PRI version 1.77_003
-PRL version 60671
My intention was to use Unrevoked 3.21 but I read through ALOT of information from different sites and am thoroughly confused. Since my phone has all the recent OTA updates can it be rooted with this? And if so, I most definitely need to not take the Sprint OTA updates and wait for the "rooted" versions correct?
I like the Sense UI (but never used any others) and am happy with the phone the way it is. My hope is being able to use the hotspot feature and remove the bloatware from the phone.
Can anyone walk me through some of this (specific to my need)? As said before, I know there are already some n00b walkthroughs out there but most are too dated and some things apply and some don't which makes it very confusing.
Unrevoked 3.21 is the way to go. I just used it to root my replacement evo and it worked beautifully. Here is the thread for it, just read it and follow the relatively easy instructions and you won't have any issues.
Great.....thanks. This one is the most current I have seen.
I have read that if I take this route the phone could still be flashed back to a stock state in case warranty service (by Sprint) is needed. Am I still correct in assuming this?
Absolutely. It is very easy to unroot and return your phone to stock.
I'm going through the process now. However, my phone has rebooted and unrevoked3 has been sitting doing nothing for awhile. It still says:
Waiting for root...(safe to restart if this doesn't work)
Recovery image: ClockworkMod Recovery
This has been on there for around 5 min now. Do I re-run unrevoked at this point? Do I need to do anything with my phone? What happens if I re-run it and same thing happens?
Thanks.
That happened to me the first time I did it. It worked fine the second. You're ok to run it again.
Nice....it was a success the second time. Thanks.
Now all I have to do is find out what to do from here! lol
You can find info on anything that you might want to do by searching the forums here at xda and by using google. I recommend reading up as much as you can before you start deleting or flashing anything.
The best piece of advice I can give you is to do a nandroid backup before you modify ANYTHING on your phone. That means do one right now so if by chance you screw something up, you can always restore it and be back to where you started. If you don't know what a nandroid is or how to do one, use the search feature here or once again, google.
Good luck and welcome to the xda community
Sorry to jump in on the post but metalhead has been so helpful to how I would like to root. I have searched for nandroid, nandriod backup, and back up nand. None of theme gave a clear path for tutorial. If you could lead me in the right direction I think that this should be made a sticky.
Thanks in advance.
mainstang said:
Sorry to jump in on the post but metalhead has been so helpful to how I would like to root. I have searched for nandroid, nandriod backup, and back up nand. None of theme gave a clear path for tutorial. If you could lead me in the right direction I think that this should be made a sticky.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you know what recovery you flashed? regardless, there are two ways to go about it. 1. turn your phone completely. hold Power and VOL - until the boot menu appears, use volume to move the selection and power to select. pick recovery. nandroid backup.
2. get Rom Manager(market). it has a one-touch button to reboot into recovery. easy peasy.
each recovery is different. Whether you have RA or Clockwork or some other third thing, you will get the same result, you just have to go about it differently.
good luck!!
I'm back post root! However, have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to.
1) Am I OK to take my phone out of USB debug mode, or does it need to stay like that?
2) Can I re-install HTC sync and will it work with all ROMS?
3) I downloaded ROM Manager and Titanium Backup (both paid). When flashing a new ROM, all settings are gone as well as apps from the market. Is there a way to restore a rom without having to go back and re-download ROM Manager from the market then use it to restore? It takes to darn long to reboot the phone into recovery and restore that way.
Also with Titanium Backup, since it just backs up apps what is the point of doing a backup with it? If a complete image is saved by whichever backup you do, all apps in that image will be restored as well. When would anyone ever need to restore just the apps from before with the same rom?
4) Can I do a batch flash with a custom ROM and a custom theme? Or should I do the ROM first then the theme? I wouldn't think the theme can be applied until the ROM is flashed first. I'm not sure if ROM Manager will do this in a specific order.
Thanks.
CCallahan said:
I'm back post root! However, have some questions that I haven't been able to find answers to.
1) Am I OK to take my phone out of USB debug mode, or does it need to stay like that?
2) Can I re-install HTC sync and will it work with all ROMS?
3) I downloaded ROM Manager and Titanium Backup (both paid). When flashing a new ROM, all settings are gone as well as apps from the market. Is there a way to restore a rom without having to go back and re-download ROM Manager from the market then use it to restore? It takes to darn long to reboot the phone into recovery and restore that way.
Also with Titanium Backup, since it just backs up apps what is the point of doing a backup with it? If a complete image is saved by whichever backup you do, all apps in that image will be restored as well. When would anyone ever need to restore just the apps from before with the same rom?
4) Can I do a batch flash with a custom ROM and a custom theme? Or should I do the ROM first then the theme? I wouldn't think the theme can be applied until the ROM is flashed first. I'm not sure if ROM Manager will do this in a specific order.
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) i would leave it enabled. it doesn't hurt anything and there are a lot of programs and modifications that use it.
2) in the half dozen roms i've tried, HTC sync does work. i am curious though. what are you using it for?
3) i'm not 100% clear on what you want, but i'll try my best. if all you're wanting to do is restore to a previous rom(for instance, if you flashed a rom to test it out and hate it) as long as you did a nandroid backup BEFORE flashing the rom, you can restore with all your settings and apps in place.
with TB i back up with it in such a way that it preserves all my settings and apps(including PLACEMENT of the apps on my docks and home screens) This is very useful. i'm not really sure why you don't see the significance in TitaniumBackup. it would be an absolute PAIN to restore all your apps from the market. or even better, REMEMBER which apps you had installed after a flash.
4) i would ALWAYS flash a rom first, reboot, check it out to make sure it loads properly. i know it takes a while but it's better to wait, then to try and flash everything at once and frag your phone. it's your phone of course, so do as you wish, but my advice is to flash the rom, reboot, then flash your theme.
good luck!!
Good stuff to know.....thanks.
In response to #2........I'm using HTC sync to sync my contacts/calendar between the phone and Outlook. I do not like using Google apps for this and HTC makes it easy to sync with this program.
In response to #3......You did answer my question. Just wanted to know if there was a faster way to recover (maybe a trick through ROM Manager) that I didn't know about.
To explain more about my Titanium Backup question......now that i think about it I guess if a custom ROM is flashed, one can re-download Titanium and restore all apps/locations on the new ROM setup, which would make things incredibly easier than downloading/placing/sizing apps individually. But, will it also restore widgets with the size/screen placement as well?
CCallahan said:
But, will it also restore widgets with the size/screen placement as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yessir, it did for me
Hello, I havent posted much here but I have been a long time reader. I am running CM6 on my EVO and have been for a few months now. I normally do not care about 4G but I am going to Chicago this weekend and want to be able to use it so here is my dilemma. I want to flash a new ROM but save everything (I can use NAND normally but this re-flashes my ROM too obviously) but I want to save everything (emails, texts, screens, apps; everything) but use it all on a new ROM. I have a feeling there is a way to do this I just dont know how. Could someone please point me in the right directions? Thanks!
You can use Titanium for your apps and texts and home screen settings. You will have to use the same launcher when you flash the new ROM in order to backup the homescreen settings. You are going from AOSP to sense so you need to really limit the system data that you backup/restore to prevent problems from arising.
Personally, I would just do a nandroid before you go, then flash the new ROM and only the stuff you need to get you through your trip and then restore your nandroid when you get home.
danman421 said:
Hello, I havent posted much here but I have been a long time reader. I am running CM6 on my EVO and have been for a few months now. I normally do not care about 4G but I am going to Chicago this weekend and want to be able to use it so here is my dilemma. I want to flash a new ROM but save everything (I can use NAND normally but this re-flashes my ROM too obviously) but I want to save everything (emails, texts, screens, apps; everything) but use it all on a new ROM. I have a feeling there is a way to do this I just dont know how. Could someone please point me in the right directions? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium Backup Pro, Backup all apps and data. Make a update zip flash your new ROM, then reboot into recovery and flash update zip, then run Titanium backup and do a restore, then reboot phone and you should be good to go.
there is a way to do it but you may run in to problems with the new rom you flash. By not wiping the data before a flash just wiping cache and dalvik you can keep all of that but flashing another rom over an old one without wiping can cause problems like broken apps and fc's at random times for no reason especially sense. If you want to keep your contacts export them to your sd card messeges i'm not sure but apps you can save with titanium back up just not the data for the apps (it tends to lock up the phone). You can try it out and see how well it goes for you but i wouldn't suggest it, then again there have been some people who do this and have nothing wrong its 50/50 all up to you if its worth the risk just make sure you nand backup before you do anything
I seem to make one right before I decide to make a big change on the phone for example and rom update or theme update.
It's starting to be hard to keep up with the all of them. Anyone else got tips on how to manage them or if it's possible to make auto backups every week or so like titanium dose with apps?
I back up before making major changes. I only keep 1 or 2 recent backups on the SD card and will archive the rest onto my computer. I'll eventually clear them out, but there are a few worth keeping- such as the stock, rooted rom.
I just keep a fresh back up of the phone in stock with nothing on it besides stock apps and crap. Auto sync takes care of my contacts and I could care less about what texts I lose, most of my apps are on the sd card so I just load what I want back.
dietotherhythm said:
Auto sync takes care of my contacts and I could care less about what texts I lose
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here. I don't care much about losing any texts. I have it set up for auto delete at 50 anyway. I theme my phone on a daily basis. So I usually backup when I'm about to push a file into the framework. If the push was successful (phone doesn't go into a boot loop) then I delete the old backup I just made and backup again with the changes I just made. Otherwise, I also backup when flashing a ROM (obviously).
I back up when I flash a new ROM, a new theme, or make tweaks to certain files (like the anti-data-throttling technique). Beyond that, I have no need.
Sent from a Western Union telegram.
How do ya geniuses do the nandroid backups?
I've been tempted to flash cyanogen mod, but I see so many glitches, and since I'm no expert at this, I kinda doubt to do the rom flashing to my phone.
EdWRX said:
How do ya geniuses do the nandroid backups?
I've been tempted to flash cyanogen mod, but I see so many glitches, and since I'm no expert at this, I kinda doubt to do the rom flashing to my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rom flashing is easy, use Rom manager from market to flash clockwork(after rooting if not already there) and then download cyanogenmod as it is awesome stable right now and flash via rom manager.
it should then ask if you want to back up(nandroid) and/or wipe, check both options and you will have a backup
on original topic i have pro version of rom manager and so i have it set to make a backup every 4 days(but i don't delete very frequently and my 8GB sd card is not nearly big enough)
ive got my stock rom backed up from when i first rooted just incase i ever want to go back, Cm6.1 and then the current virtuous rom that im using. i really do need to clean my SD card up though, haha.
Like most, I made a nandroid as soon as I'd finished rooting, and then I keep one copy of my current ROM (Virtuous). If I'm going to make a major change or upgrade, I'll make a backup and keep it around for a few days, till I'm sure there are no bugs, and then keep the newer and delete the older backup. At most I have 3 backups, but normally I only have 2.
Honestly.... Never.
There's nothing a Nandroid can fix that flashing a new rom cant And the new rom gives you a nice change
once a week!