I used to have a WinMo device that I would flash new roms to a couple times a month. I had a procedure down to backup contacts, SMS, and CallLogs with some other info. Then after, the flash i would restore the SMS, contacts, and Call logs and an auto installer (Sashimi) would redo all my settings (email, registry, etc) and then install a couple apps I used regularly. I used this method because the ROMs would change the software on the device around and I didn't trust a standard app backup since it might restore old files onto a newer build app.
I know with Android, there's a ton of apps (Titanium, sprint, etc) to do backups but some seem more purpose built than others. Plus, the contacts get backed up on google, so they don't matter much.
Does anyone have a good method that they use to backup the data and restore between ROM changes on Android similar to the above?
Titanium backup is pretty much the gold standard for Android
It will back up ALL of your apps, their data, and your system data but you want to be careful about restoring system data. If you restore everything you're likely to get boot loops from something being incompatible, just be selective about what system data you restore and maybe only restore one thing at a time the first couple times so you can get a feel for what restores well and what doesnt.
Conversly I have had almost no problems batch restoring all my apps and their data. The only real problem you are likely to have is with apps that check to see if it's a restored copy or an install from the original apk. None of gameloft's games can be restored, for example. That has been my experience, hope it helps.
nebenezer pretty much got it, I'll just add a couple points
Invest in the donate version of Titanium. It automates the re-install process of apps. Otherwise, you will have to physically press Install, and then OK once an app is finished installing, for every app.
System settings items in green (includes SMS messages, call log, etc) are pretty much safe to backup/restore when switching ROMs, you just have to make sure you are switching between like ROMs.
For example:
2.2 Sense-based ROM <----> 2.2 Sense-based ROM - Ok
CyanogenMOD AOSP <----> 2.2 Sense-based ROM - Bad
Any 2.2 ROM <----> Any 2.1 ROM - Bad
Sense AOSP-lite ROM <----> 2.2 Sense-based ROM - You can probably get away with a few settings, but if you try to restore HTC Browser settings/bookmarks to AOSP browser, etc, or vice versa, it will likely cause issues.
That just goes for settings, as far as user apps, those are pretty much safe to restore to/from any ROM.
I did a lot of reading before I did this to be sure I wouldn't lose anything. Here's the step by step for others, since I was unable to find it all in one place. This is for the MT4G/Glacier, no idea if the process is similar on other phones. You should probably still read, but I couldn't find any of this all in one place:
If you flash, here's what you need:
- Rooted phone (if you need to root, search for the gfree method, it's the easiest)
- ROM Manager from the Market. Get the premium version.
- TitaniumBackup from the Market.
- Sync turned on for your contacts and calendars in your google account.
1. Go into TitaniumBackup, set the option to store the settings on the SDCard. Go into Backup/Restore, hit menu, and run the batch to do a full backup of system and user apps/data.
2. Go into ROM Manager. At the top, click the option to install ClockworkRecovery. Make sure it installs version 3.0.0.5. Then click the option to reboot into recovery mode. In recovery, make a ROM backup of your existing ROM. It will store on the SD card. Reboot back into the OS.
3. Go back into ROM Manager, scroll down to Download ROM's. You should see CM7 Nightlies in there. Download the latest build. It will ask you if you want to also download the GAPPS package, grab that also. When it's done, it will ask you what you want to do... just cancel. Go to reboot in recovery mode.
4. In recovery:
- Wipe/Factory Reset
- Clear cache partition
- Advanced -> clear Dalvik cache
- On main screen, install ZIP from SD
- Navigate to sdcard->clockworkmod->downloads->teamdouche and select the CM7 zip for your phone that was downloaded
- When that is done, install another zip from sd, go into the goo.inside.me directory and install GAPPS zip
- Reboot phone from main menu
5. Enter your gmail creds that you used for your primary account from before
6. Cancel the additional downloads thing when it pops up, this will pop up again later after you enable wireless
7. Go into ROM Manager, Select the Fix Permissions option, reboot (wifi won't work unless you do this)
8. Enable wifi and join to your network
9. Eventually you will get the popup again. Select the stuff that you want installed.
It will pull down all of your apps from the market and install them. If you want to restore user data for the apps, you can go into titanium and click on the app, and restore it with the data. Don't do this until it's done updating from the market. Do NOT restore system level stuff. You will cause problems if you restore system level stuff from 2.2 or earlier on 2.3.x.
You should also install SetCPU from the market, set to start on boot, set conservative mode, and create a screen off profile that limits to 368mhz/conservative. In advanced, leave the defaults, except change the cpu up threshold to 75, and the scaling percent to 11 or 12. Massive battery improvements. You can overclock with this also, mine is only overclocked to around 1100mhz. Some people are running 1800mhz. I heard smartass mode instead of conservative is also good, but haven't tried it.
Keep in mind that if you have an HTC phone with the Sense Framework, you won't have that anymore. So if you liked the Sense dialer (which I did), you can't get it. The stock dialer is functional, but not the best. DialerOne and Dialer2 look the most interesting, but they still aren't as good. If you have CSipSimple installed, remove it. CM7 has SIP built into it, and CSipSimple confuses the phone when trying to make calls. If you liked the Sense clock widget, you can get a replacement, search for Beautiful Widgets on the market. The built in camera app is not Sense either, but does all the same things. The Gallery is awesome, best gallery I've ever seen (stacks that you can pull apart and flip through, very cool).
If GPS doesn't work, download GPS Status from the market and use it to clear the A-GPS data and cache. It's the only app that can do it. It's free.
Also, if you want to go back to your previous ROM, you can flash back with the ROM Manager backup that you made. The only thing is, you'll have to downgrade the clockwork recovery bootloader to 2.5.1.2 first. You can do this by flashing a zip from your SD card. The zip is available somewhere on these forums. I don't have a link, but you can find it by searching a bit. The 3.0.0.5 version cannot flash a Froyo or earlier ROM for some reason. I'm not going back, so I haven't done this.
My TitaniumBackup realized somehow that I installed fresh, and it automatically restored my apps and data. It did NOT on my friend's phone. But, he has the free version and I have the paid one. If it doesn't restore your app settings, you can manually go in and do it. One thing that I've never been able to restore is Good corporate email. It restores, but it won't send or receive. If anyone has ideas on this, post them.
Note that I flashed with build 35, and it's been rock solid. Your mileage may vary. If you already have the software noted above, the whole process only takes about 5-10 mins.
Edit: Recovery 3.0.0.6 was released, and works with 2.2 and 2.3. So you wouldn't have to downgrade the recovery to go back a version. As of this edit, you can grab it here if it's not showing up in ROM Manager yet: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=952433
Something to add... if you are using ADW or LPP do a backup if those also. I find that if you install it fresh from the market and not TB then press restore settings in their preferences it will load all the custom icons and custom dock. It saves alot of time. Nice writup for the peeps that need the pointers for a fresh and fast install of a nightly
FYI, Titanium backup works great at restoring apps. I would be weary of restoring data between android versions however, because some of the data will be of a different type and could cause lots of issues. Thats the reason for the full data wipe before flashing in the first place.
option94 said:
FYI, Titanium backup works great at restoring apps. I would be weary of restoring data between android versions however, because some of the data will be of a different type and could cause lots of issues. Thats the reason for the full data wipe before flashing in the first place.
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I thought that was mostly because of system. The apps themselves still store their data in sqlite databases, and their schema should not change between versions of the actual OS. I might be wrong.
app data is fine, system data is what causes issues. I should have been more specific.
option94 said:
app data is fine, system data is what causes issues. I should have been more specific.
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The only system stuff I install is the accounts back up, email data, wifi access points, and account and sync settings. I usually dont have a problem installing this kind of stuff. I had a few problems in the past restoring some system stuff and it made things not work, a lot of force closes. etc.. I would open up say the sound settings in settings and it would never open it would fc 100% of the time. You know I bet a lot of the issues people have with stuff not working when other's have no problems are due to bad restores. I have not once in any of the builds(since 26 when I started flashing CM 7) had an issue with wifi or gps(knock on wood)
option94 said:
FYI, Titanium backup works great at restoring apps. I would be weary of restoring data between android versions however, because some of the data will be of a different type and could cause lots of issues. Thats the reason for the full data wipe before flashing in the first place.
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Click to collapse
But the market automatically downloads all your apps for you. last time i did a full wipe i only used TB to restore data only, since the apps had been installed automatically from market.
You can use My Backup Pro to back up your SMS and MMS, plus bookmarks and a few other things. Very useful if you want to wipe and save your text.
speoples20 said:
You can use My Backup Pro to back up your SMS and MMS, plus bookmarks and a few other things. Very useful if you want to wipe and save your text.
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Checkout sms backup+
It backs up all texts to your gmail account automatically.
speoples20 said:
You can use My Backup Pro to back up your SMS and MMS, plus bookmarks and a few other things. Very useful if you want to wipe and save your text.
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Click to collapse
You can also use My Backup Root (free in market) It is the same as My Backup pro but it is free.
Ok so I just barely rooted and flashed cm7 #40 to my glacier. Everthing is great. I love the rom. I just need help on 2 things. First, how do I get my contacts to sync back to my phone? I had done a factory reset twice before and they always synced back after I logged in my gmail account but not this time. I did sync my gmail before rooting and flashing and I also backed everything up with titanium backup but nothing. Second, when I first flashed the cm7 #40 rom I liked how when I locked the screen it shut off like if you were turning off a tv. I don't know what I did that it does not do it anymore. If anyone knows hows to fix my 2 problems I greatly appriciate it. Thanx.
EDIT: I figured out how to get the screen off animation back but I still have problems getting my contacts to push back to my phone. If anyone knows how to get them to sync it would be helpful.
EDIT#2: Figured out how to get contacts back. Was not able to sync them but just went to the tmo website, wrote them down and re-added them to my phone.
issues after upgrade to gb
I have rooted and upgraded to cm7. I have followed all directions, however, i do not have android market or any google apps reinstalled on the phone. Something got messed up during the upgrade, anyone got any ideas how i can install android market back on my phone? This is a big issue for me, i can not even get back into my titanium backup. How do i recover it from sd card? PLEASE HELP!!!! Stressing big time over this!! Also, when i try to set up my account to sync the contacts its asking for a domain name, i assume its for gmail, how do i find it? Any examples or ideas? I lost a grip of contacts, over 200! Please help!!! Thank you!
RusRap said:
I have rooted and upgraded to cm7. I have followed all directions, however, i do not have android market or any google apps reinstalled on the phone. Something got messed up during the upgrade, anyone got any ideas how i can install android market back on my phone? This is a big issue for me, i can not even get back into my titanium backup. How do i recover it from sd card? PLEASE HELP!!!! Stressing big time over this!! Also, when i try to set up my account to sync the contacts its asking for a domain name, i assume its for gmail, how do i find it? Any examples or ideas? I lost a grip of contacts, over 200! Please help!!! Thank you!
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Click to collapse
Did you install the GAPPS zip that came with the rom? if you didn't, do. Its the google apps file. That will load the market and apps.
coupetastic-droid said:
Ok so I just barely rooted and flashed cm7 #40 to my glacier. Everthing is great. I love the rom. I just need help on 2 things. First, how do I get my contacts to sync back to my phone? I had done a factory reset twice before and they always synced back after I logged in my gmail account but not this time. I did sync my gmail before rooting and flashing and I also backed everything up with titanium backup but nothing. Second, when I first flashed the cm7 #40 rom I liked how when I locked the screen it shut off like if you were turning off a tv. I don't know what I did that it does not do it anymore. If anyone knows hows to fix my 2 problems I greatly appriciate it. Thanx.
EDIT: I figured out how to get the screen off animation back but I still have problems getting my contacts to push back to my phone. If anyone knows how to get them to sync it would be helpful.
EDIT#2: Figured out how to get contacts back. Was not able to sync them but just went to the tmo website, wrote them down and re-added them to my phone.
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Click to collapse
howd you get the animations back?
mbernusg said:
howd you get the animations back?
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wiped, re-flashed the rom and re-boot. it was the only way i was able to get the animation back.
I'm curious if there's a way to batch-restore data only in Titanium Backup? Only way I can see is to do it app by app.
Likewise, any way to batch-backup data only?
Hi, I've got a recently rooted HTC desire, and since rooting it I have been playing around with a couple of roms; I have tried both cyanogenmod and a desire hd rom. However with both I have had the same problem - having to start fresh completely, without any of my data. And then having to restore a backup.
So my question is firstly, am I doing something wrong? I have tried restoring my data before but all I ever get is a bootloop when I restart so I have to wipe it again.
And then, if you do have to start afresh, is it really worth it? And why.
Thanks for reading
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
HikerMan said:
Hi, I've got a recently rooted HTC desire, and since rooting it I have been playing around with a couple of roms; I have tried both cyanogenmod and a desire hd rom. However with both I have had the same problem - having to start fresh completely, without any of my data. And then having to restore a backup.
So my question is firstly, am I doing something wrong? I have tried restoring my data before but all I ever get is a bootloop when I restart so I have to wipe it again.
And then, if you do have to start afresh, is it really worth it? And why.
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I try to keep it simple.
You say you've tried restoring your data? With...Clockworkmod? Or what? If you restore only /data-partition with Clockworkmod (I'm not sure if it's even possible, never have tried it) you are bound to have problems.
Same goes with Titanium Backup. When you're switching ROM from say, a Sense rom to Cyanogenmod - don't ever restore all settings. The ROM's are too different and their settings aren't compatible with each other! I myself only restore WiFi Access point list (and installed apps) when switching ROMs.
So if I've understood you correctly, you're not doing anything wrong (unless you're restoring a nandroid after flashing...)
A correct procedure for switching roms (not for updating the same ROM unless stated explicitly!) is:
-Titanium Backup/Mybackup/whatever your apps (and as little settings as possible, it's mostly trial and error)
-Nandroid backup (so you can revert when there are problems)
-Wipe data / factory reset (wipes everything but FAT32-partition of SD-card)
-Flash the new rom
-Restore your apps with TB/something else and manually input your settings (accounts, etc shouldn't be backed up either...)
Something you could consider if you want to jump ROMs all the time, is to set up your installation the way you like it, then do a nandroid backup, install a new rom, then set it up again and backup it, then if you want to switch these 2 roms you can just restore the one you want...Of course replacing the nandroid backup if you've done a lot of changes
Now for your last question: Starting fresh is worth it. Otherwise you will most probably run to force closes and other problems that force you to do a factory reset anyway.
Thanks for the reply! Very helpful... so if I go into titanium backup and backup all apps, will that backup contacts and text messages etc. also? Or will I have to lose them?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
HikerMan said:
Thanks for the reply! Very helpful... so if I go into titanium backup and backup all apps, will that backup contacts and text messages etc. also? Or will I have to lose them?
Sent from my HTC Desire using XDA App
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Umm, I can't say about contacts, because I always sync them from my work Exchange & Gmail, and for text messages I recommend a free app called SMS Backup+ https://market.android.com/details?id=com.zegoggles.smssync&feature=search_result
The software backs up your SMS to your Gmail as messages, to a label called SMS , and they can be restored with a click to your new rom.
Also People app (in Sense) and Dialer (in AOSP roms) can export contacts to SD so you can easily import them back.
I'm pretty sure that this hasn't been covered specifically so I'm posting a new thread.
I backed up all my apps and data on a stock rooted Sprint 4.24.651.1, 2.3.3 ROM via TBU Pro. I also performed a backup of my current ROM with ROM Manager. I then installed Team Nocturnal _Shooter_RLS_2.3.(after, of course, all the recommended wipes and resets) When I went to restore my apps and data I wondered if some of the previous app versions (where both ROMs have same apps/diff versions) would hose things up. It did, I think. Maybe all that I needed to do was clear some app caches and reboot. Not sure, I couldn't get any of the HTC widgets to load but I did see in another thread that cache clearing may fix that. But other stuff was goofy after the restore too. It became buggy and horribly slow, so I think that there's more to it than just the HTC stuff. I wonder if something I restored and maybe shouldn't have hosed it up. What I'm wondering is if someone would be so kind as to scan down my app lists and tell me which apps and/or data that are obvious that I shouldn't restore? For example, this new ROM has a different dialer, it makes sense to me that I wouldn't restore that. Same with anything to do with Sense, since this particular ROM I believe has a newer version, but not sure. I am thinking that any time I install a different ROM this will be a consideration but maybe I have the wrong idea about the whole thing. I have attached 30 images captured (incl the Software info screen) of my app list in TBU.
Lastly, I'll add that since making the move to Android from WinMo about a year ago I am very glad I did it. I could not have possibly been able to learn and do the things (rooting, S-off, flashing ROMS) that I have done without XDA! You folks are brainiacs and I greatly admire what you all do. (blatant a**-kissing)Thank you, thank you!
You have to be very careful about what you restore using Titanium when you are moving from one ROM to another. I found this from personal experience (moving from Stock to Synergy RLS1 and then to MikG). There is some good info in the Titanium Backup Wiki.
The part that you need to be careful about is restoring system data that is incompatible with the newer system apps in your new ROM. Your best bet is to only restore the User Apps and their data. You can do this in Titanium by selecting Menu > Batch > Restore missing apps with data.
There is some system data that you can restore without getting into trouble (probably bookmarks, SMS Messages, Sprint Voicemail) but you are going to have to experiment. I restored my missing apps using the batch option and then went to the Backup/Restore screen to look at the System Apps and Data one by one to see if there was anything that I could restore. Sometimes I would restore some data that would cause a problem and I would have to Wipe that data (also in Titanium Backup/Restore screen) and move along. I know at least once I was forced to start fresh and Wipe and reflash the ROM.
gbweller said:
I'm pretty sure that this hasn't been covered specifically so I'm posting a new thread.
I backed up all my apps and data on a stock rooted Sprint 4.24.651.1, 2.3.3 ROM via TBU Pro. I also performed a backup of my current ROM with ROM Manager. I then installed Team Nocturnal _Shooter_RLS_2.3.(after, of course, all the recommended wipes and resets) When I went to restore my apps and data I wondered if some of the previous app versions (where both ROMs have same apps/diff versions) would hose things up. It did, I think. Maybe all that I needed to do was clear some app caches and reboot. Not sure, I couldn't get any of the HTC widgets to load but I did see in another thread that cache clearing may fix that. But other stuff was goofy after the restore too. It became buggy and horribly slow, so I think that there's more to it than just the HTC stuff. I wonder if something I restored and maybe shouldn't have hosed it up. What I'm wondering is if someone would be so kind as to scan down my app lists and tell me which apps and/or data that are obvious that I shouldn't restore? For example, this new ROM has a different dialer, it makes sense to me that I wouldn't restore that. Same with anything to do with Sense, since this particular ROM I believe has a newer version, but not sure. I am thinking that any time I install a different ROM this will be a consideration but maybe I have the wrong idea about the whole thing. I have attached 30 images captured (incl the Software info screen) of my app list in TBU.
Lastly, I'll add that since making the move to Android from WinMo about a year ago I am very glad I did it. I could not have possibly been able to learn and do the things (rooting, S-off, flashing ROMS) that I have done without XDA! You folks are brainiacs and I greatly admire what you all do. (blatant a**-kissing)Thank you, thank you!
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I had a feeling that there would be conflicts like that before I even restored. I never thought to read the TBU wiki...thanks for that tip! It looks like I have a lot more homework to do before I flash again. I really have to decide if the time investment is really worth the return. There are so many cool ROMs out there but what a lot of B.S. sorting out what works and what doesn't. It is excruciating to have to read through 50+ posts following a ROM release to find out what you're in for. What would be super-cool is if someone was able to construct a spreadsheet of the most popular ROMs in a column with all of the popular features (4G, Wifi Tether, Mirroring, etc), kernel compatibility, Sense or no Sense, etc in a row at the top, with check marks indicating whether or not the feature works or is baked in. I'd pay to see that. Especially if it were linked to the downloads to the ROMs and kernels.
Thank you very much for the reply!
Hey guys. I just wiped and upgraded from CM10 8/14 build to the 8/31 build. I always hate the arduous process of reinstalling apps (for some reason, the automatic restore of all apps from the Play Store has only happened once, I can never get it to happen consistently)
Anywho, I wiped, flashed the new build and gapps, and then rebooted and signed in. It decided not to auto-restore, so I decided to try and boot into Clockwork and do an Advanced Restore of only /data. Rebooted and I have all my settings and apps back perfectly fine. Is there a downside to doing this? It seems to have worked without an issue but I don't think I've seen people saying they do this regularly.
Also, does anyone know how to get the built in auto restore to work reliably? I have all the settings checked.
Thanks in advance.
I have done it numerous times that way, but as you go along, you will find that is not that reliable, use titatium or mybackup. Those always have better results. Either way is fine.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda premium
Titanium Backup is your friend! Its way more easier and you can transfer that folder from iPhone to phone. It makes life easier for us flashaholics.