Can someone explain a few things about backups and ROM flashes, please?
I've got a custom ROM on my Desire, and I'm using an Ext partition to hold my apps using App2SD.
I've run a full backup with Titanium Backup.
If I want to wipe and flash a new ROM, how does it work?
I do a factory reset, wipe cache, wipe dalvic.
I then flash a new ROM. New ROM will presumably be faced with the apps I've already got on my SD card ext partition.
Do they just install back, or do they cause problems?
If I reinstall Titanium Backup on the new ROM and restore everything, do I end up with new ROM and all my old apps back as they were before?
Or do I need to wipe the ext partition too, before doing a restore?
Any pointers would be great.
Ric
Doing a factory reset wipes all apps so if you do that before flashing the ROM all the apps will be gone from your ext partition.
You can then restore your apps using titanium backup. Be careful though, your market apps are fine to restore but you should be very selective about restoring system apps. I only restore data on the green coloured system apps to get back things like SMS, my custom sense layout, that sort of thing.
If you go from sense to non-sense ROMs then you may not even want to do this much.
Related
Hey All,
I am curious about a few things...
I had a couple/few nandroid back ups that were stored on my phone, do you all only keep 1 nandroid and delete your previous backups?
I am running mikfroyo and flashed another ROM about 2 days ago, had some issues so I went back to mik. I think I may have done it in a way that nobody else does...I did it like I was flashing it for the first time, wipe everything and flash from sd card.
Should I have just did a nandroid restore? What does this actually bring back? Text, recent calls, apps?
When doing a nandroid restore should I wipe all before doing so? I would imagine the answer is yes.
And one more, before switching to any new ROM, should I always flash Caulkins Format All zip?
Thank you.
Nand restore will restore everything that was on your phone when you made the backup. Definitely a good idea to flash the zip when installing a new ROM. I also do it to restore though.
When you restore, unless you are backing up the cache, which isn't necessary, you need to minimally wipe the cache/dalvik before you restore. Also, if your SD Card is partitioned, you would need to wipe SD EXT. I pretty much flash Calk's format all anytime I restore or flash a new ROM.
I almost never have one back up. I have a few ROMs I like so, I set them up the way I want and restore between them when I get bored, which is like 100 times a day it feels like.
I do usually only keep the latest backup of any one ROM though. At any given time I probably have at least 5.
Edit: I re-read your post and I think I misunderstood one part the first time. Sometimes, when I got back to a previous ROM, I do just reflash it and start over, but I am anal about fresh starts. Usually I do just nand restore, especially if I know the setup was running well. I don't typically restore a lot between ROMs b/c I feel like it just adds to something that can go wrong. A lot of times I redownload apps instead of restoring, especially if they are purchased, since they are just stored in my apps in the market anyway. And I never restore app data. Usually end up only restoring about 30 apps w/out data, but most people do backup/restore a lot of info with no problems.
You should have just restore from a previous backup. When you restore, it bring ti back to EXACTLY how it was, texts, number of calls, ect. Actually you don't need to wipe when doing a restore. Well you can manually wipe all of them, or flash the format all, so I'm saying yes.
Also, I suggest against wiping data before creating a nandroid backup, lol. That would defeat the purpose, as your info and apps will be gone! Just wipe cache and davlik before a backup, or nothing at all, just so there's no confusion.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
Yeah, I didn't mean to wipe anything before backing up. But if your going to restore a different ROM and there's no cache included in the nand back up you're going to restore, then best to wipe it before you restore.
jstalford said:
Also, if your SD Card is partitioned, you would need to wipe SD EXT. I pretty much flash Calk's format all anytime I restore or flash a new ROM.
It is partitioned, what gets stored on there that needs to be wiped, apps?
Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is partitioned, what gets stored on there that needs to be wiped, apps?
Thanks for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the ROM has a2sd built in, yeah, if not, nothing. I always wipe it just so I'm in the habit of doing it for when it's there. Also depending on how a2sd is set up, dalvik can be on there.
Hi all,
Would really appreciate your help! I'm a nOOb and may have bricked my phone. I rooted and installed a LeeDroid Froyo Rom last year, updated this recently to LeeDrOiD V3.0.2 GB. I got brave today and attempted to change this to RCMix S v1.3 (Sense 2.1+3.0mix) but now my phone is stuck on the HTC Bootscreen.
The process I followed was the same as when installing LeeDroids ROMs:
I backed up my apps
Re-partioned my SD card - 512md using ROM Manager
Used ROM Manager to boot to recovery
Factory re-set
Re-installed ROM Manager
Copied the new ROM zip file to the SD Card
Used ROM Manager to boot to recovery
Installed the new ROM which installed correctly ("Congrats, successful installation, re-boot and enjoy ..." or similar word to that effect)
Re-booted
But now it's frozen on a permanent HTC logo bootscreen.
I would greatly appreciate any help you can offer, or a link to the solution if there is one that may have been requested and solved before, I've spent an age searching the forums but can not find a solution.
Thanks in advance,
Karl
sounds like you didnt wipe the dalvik cache.
I would drop the battery out, replace and boot into recover, wipe data factory reset, wipe dalvik and go for another install.
Can you confirm if you did the above?
edit: oh and i dont know if its made a differance but when i install a new rom, i transfer to the SD card then, wipedata, wipe cache and then install as opposed to booting the phone after wiping data
Before flashing you always have to do a full wipe.
Your systemdata and apps can backed up by Titanium Backup. The backup don't get deleted by the wipe. After flashing the new rom (and eventually re-downloading/re-installing Titanium Backup you can restore all systemdata and apps by "Menu>Batch>Restore missing systemdata and apps".
First tip for the future: Always make a complete nandroid before every flash. If there are problems with your new system, you a running system anyway.
Second: When go from sense-rom to a non-sense-rom (or reversed), you must not restore system data, only the apps. Otherwise there can be heavy problems with your system.
vis-tec said:
sounds like you didnt wipe the dalvik cache.
I would drop the battery out, replace and boot into recover, wipe data factory reset, wipe dalvik and go for another install.
Can you confirm if you did the above?
edit: oh and i dont know if its made a differance but when i install a new rom, i transfer to the SD card then, wipedata, wipe cache and then install as opposed to booting the phone after wiping data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers Vis-tec,
Yeah, it was the dalvik cache, I did exactly what you suggested and it worked perfectly. Never heard of dalvik cache before but wiping it did the job.
Thanks again,
Karl
MatDrOiD said:
Before flashing you always have to do a full wipe.
Your systemdata and apps can backed up by Titanium Backup. The backup don't get deleted by the wipe. After flashing the new rom (and eventually re-downloading/re-installing Titanium Backup you can restore all systemdata and apps by "Menu>Batch>Restore missing systemdata and apps".
First tip for the future: Always make a complete nandroid before every flash. If there are problems with your new system, you a running system anyway.
Second: When go from sense-rom to a non-sense-rom (or reversed), you must not restore system data, only the apps. Otherwise there can be heavy problems with your system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks MatDroid,
Good tip about the system data when moving between sense and non-sense roms - I would have found that out the hard way for sure!
I know nothing about nandroid so I'll start reading up on it!
Thanks again,
Karl
Yekrallum said:
Thanks MatDroid,
Good tip about the system data when moving between sense and non-sense roms - I would have found that out the hard way for sure!
I know nothing about nandroid so I'll start reading up on it!
Thanks again,
Karl
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread might help to understand the technical definitions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=805247
MatDrOiD said:
Before flashing you always have to do a full wipe.
Your systemdata and apps can backed up by Titanium Backup. The backup don't get deleted by the wipe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another good tip, I assumed that the wipe would delete the back-up, or to be more precise, I was unsure where it backed up the data/apps to. So I uploaded to Dropbox using the Dropbox feature in Titanium Backup ... this takes an age so it's good to know that the backup doesn't get deleted by the wipe for future rom changes!
Thanks again,
Karl
Try using RaRecovery http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=839621
It's the recommended recovery for RCMix S. I got stuck in splash because of CWM.
I rooted my Evo a while ago. Now I want to try a different rom and I am not clear about somethings. If the new rom requires a data wipe how can I migrate my data to the new rom?
I can use recovery to do a full backup then wipe and install the new rom. Can I then flash my old data back? Or would that not be considered a wipe? In other words does a wipe for a rom require all new data or is it OK that the data be "reinstalled"? Is the issue the actual contents of the data or the location in flash of the data partition?
If I can't use my existing data with a new rom is Titanium backup the only way to migrate existing data to a new rom?
Second, and related, is a basic question about partitions. If the size of a partition is fixed, at least at installation of a rom, then is there any benefit in deleting bloatware? If I install a rom that still has some sprint apps and then I delete one do I get that space back? Or is the size of that partition fixed so the deleted space is now empty but not available to my data partition?
Finally, if I install a rom that has new versions of an app is there an easy way to tell and to delete the version from data? For example if i have Google maps in data and then upgrade to a rom that has new maps how can I tell which is newer? Can I just uninstall the app in market, if the data version is older or the same as the rom?
Thanks for help with these basic questions.
I realize that I am missing a basic understanding of the "disk structure" of android. But I have not been able to figure out a good source to explain this.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
If the new rom requires a data wipe how can I migrate my data to the new rom?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Contacts and calendar should be backed up to google, as long as they are "google contacts" and not "phone contacts".
Texts can be backed up with SMS Backup and Restore.
Pics should obviously be on the sd card.
Apps and their settings can be backed up and restored with Titanium Backup.
Using the above things, the ONLY thing that you should have to setup when flashing a new rom is: first, your google account, and then your homescreen layout and system settings. Keep in mind, Titanium will back these up for you, but this is NOT to be used to restore between roms, it is only to be used within the same rom. If you try to restore system settings and home screen layouts between roms, it will mess up the rom.
I can use recovery to do a full backup then wipe and install the new rom. Can I then flash my old data back? Or would that not be considered a wipe?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, as that would defeat the purpose of wiping data in the first place. I know it's a pain, but you NEED to wipe data when flashing roms, if you dont you WILL have many problems with the new rom. I've got it down to about 20 minutes from flashing a new rom to being fully set up again.
I've been running CM 10, 4.1.2, on Verizon gn. Works fine.
But I can't leave well enough alone, and want to try 4.2.2.
That should be easy right, just flash the recent CM 10.1. No cache wiping. Right?
But if I do that and I don't like it. how do I go back? Is it as simple as just flashing CM 10?
Also, I have Ti backup. The backup folder is sdcard/TitaniumBackup. I've read that 4.2.2 creates /sdcard/0/ for data. Does this mean that my present backup will be deleted?
Any help appreciated.
Since you are migrating Android versions, I would recommend that you do a full wipe, so system, data, and cache (and restore apps from TiBu if you must). You can do a nandroid backup from recovery; if you don't like 4.2 just restore it. When restoring a nandroid backup everything will be exactly the same.
seandarcy said:
Also, I have Ti backup. The backup folder is sdcard/TitaniumBackup. I've read that 4.2.2 creates /sdcard/0/ for data. Does this mean that my present backup will be deleted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just upgraded from 4.1.2 to 4.2.2 and had the same concern about being able to go back if I had problems and knowing that the partitioning of internal storage would be changed.
I recently got my GN back from Samsung after getting the screen replaced. Before sending it off, I totally wiped and reset the phone to stock. I made sure I did a full Ti backup first, then a Nandroid backup, and finally copied the entire contents of internal storage via "adb pull" to my desktop computer. When I got the phone back, I reversed the process and was able to restore the phone entirely to where it was before the wipe.
I did the same operation before upgrading to 4.2.2, without wiping the phone. So if I'd have wanted to go back to 4.1.2, I'd have wiped the phone, including internal storage, and restored as described above. I'm pretty confident that this would have removed the new partitioning from 4.2.2 and reset it to where it was before the 4.2.2 upgrade.
Sorry to be dense, but...
So I do a nandroid backup from TWRP 2.4.4.0, system, data and cache
From TWRP flash the CM 4.2.2.
Do nandroid restore from TWRP?
Flash gapps, restore apps from TiBu.
Now if want to go back to 4.1.2:
Flash 4.1.2, wipe system data cache.
Flash gapps, restore apps from TiBu
Do I have this correct?
Nandroid the entire thing from TWRP, wipe system, data and cache from TWRP, flash CM10.1 and gapps from TWRP, restore apps from TiBu in ROM. If you don't like it just restore the nandroid from TWRP. TiBu only restores apps, nandroid restores everything: ROM, account, system settings, apps, etc.
The only extra thing I referred to was making a full copy of your phone's internal storage to your computer using "adb pull". This would allow you to wipe the internal storage and restore it, in case the partitioning change from "/storage/sdcard0" to "/storage/emulated/0" needed to be removed. But if TWRP's nandroid backup and restore takes care of this, this step isn't necessary.
How easy? Dead easy.
Sent from my Nexus
HTC Clock widget looks weird today after running filesystem repair in TWRP on /system, white background with white data so I am going to restore /system back up in TWRP as something is wrong when trying wp_mod.ko on my rooted S-ON HTC One M8 4.4.3 T-Mobile Sense 6.
But I have few questions as I only found how to restore to stock for warranty/returns or from different non-stock ROMs. ANd I have same stock ROM that I want to restore before /system got damaged.
I want to keep my apps and their data. Possibly home screens and settings to save lots of time.
I did back up user and system apps and their data in Titanium Backup and /data and /System partition in TWRP
1. When flashing different ROMs it is always required to do wipe in TWRP. What about if it is the same stock ROM?
If I want to just restore my /system partition backup before it got file system errors, what do I need to do exactly to keep my apps and settings if possible?
2. Is wipe to factory required?
3. WIpe just certain things and which?
4. Is there a way to back up and restore Xposed modules' settings?
Thank you in advance for help.
Hi,
1. Flashing different roms should always start with wiping system, data, cache and dalvik. Use titanium backup to backup your user apps. And you can restore them after. Don't restore sysyem apps. Usually if you are just flashing an update of the same rom, you can dirty flash, unless the Dev says otherwise. That means just going into recovery and flashing the rom update. No wiping. If you have any issues though, the first thing you'll be told is to clean flash.
2. For a different rom, yes. See number one.
3. See number one.
4. See number one... Titanium backup.
As far as system settings, like sounds and what not... You will have to set them again after a clean flash. If you use a launcher from the play store, like Nova for example... You can backup with titanium and restore after and your home screens will be restored. With the stock launchers, no. You will have to arrange them again.
Hope that helps. ?