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.
Related
I have search the answer with no luck.
i'm always upgrading new roms version or different roms. From the changelog i can see that alot of tweak are done to roms in every new version for different purpose (stability, speed etc).
My question is, if i change roms (from bugless to fresh) or if i just upgrade roms version (from 1.0 to 2.0) using titanium back would it return the system to previous roms version, or it will only restore system setting, programs and datas (phones, sms, call history etc)?
thank you
As far as I know it just retains the system data for the app, leaving the ROM business alone. I've switched between ROMs and the only issue I had was that I had to put the widgets back on manually under ADW.Launcher. All of the widgets said 'Problem loading widget'.
eduardmc said:
I have search the answer with no luck.
i'm always upgrading new roms version or different roms. From the changelog i can see that alot of tweak are done to roms in every new version for different purpose (stability, speed etc).
My question is, if i change roms (from bugless to fresh) or if i just upgrade roms version (from 1.0 to 2.0) using titanium back would it return the system to previous roms version, or it will only restore system setting, programs and datas (phones, sms, call history etc)?
thank you
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Take a look at the guide in my sig. It should answer these questions.
Here's what I do: I setup the phone with all the settings that I like to use, then I backup with titanium backup, then I wipe and flash a rom, and restore with titanium backup. Usually the widgets don't come back due to some error or another, but I just delete and re-add them. Some apps also don't like TB and need to be reinstalled, but most of them work after doing a reboot after the restore of the apps.
This allows you to upgrade without the hassle of reinstalling and setting up all your options.
The backups are also located on the SD card in the Titanium Backup folder if you want to make a backup of the backup.
Same with Mybackup pro, just save apps then if you have root it will ask to use the additional features. Backup you data, home screens, bookmarks, etc then when you put on the new rom you can restore, widgets do not seem to restore on the screens properly but you only need to remove and replace on the screen.
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.
Hello, i have a problem with the restore of my apps after flashing a custom rom (Leedroid, of course). I’m running Leedroid 2.5.0. I make a backup of my apps trough Titanium. Then I flash rom and restore all my apps with Titanium. Everything seems to be ok but when I try to restore my desk applications, contact list, accounts …. From Titanium, I have several problems such as Contact applications which get a Force Close error. HTC logo appears when I quit an application and come back to Home…
What do I make wrong?
A lot of system applications do not work with data restores as the formats mights be incompatible between ROMS. This is especially true when changing from Sense to Nonsense ROMS but it seems that this is not the case with you.
Fortunately, the contact list is usually backed up to your email account, and should be restored by a sync, so there is no need to use Ti for it. I think its best to enter the account information manually and then restore the other system apps one by one, checking for FCs each time.
I'm not sure by what exactly you mean by desk applications but to this day I have not successfully restored the entire home screen configuration (esp widgets) between installation of launchers and this goes for Rosie, ADW and Go.
if it helps MIUI rom has its own backup function and i feel its much more reliable.
do0b said:
if it helps MIUI rom has its own backup function and i feel its much more reliable.
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+1 But don't backup your contact list. Already backuped with your google account
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!
Hello everyone,
I have been rooting for a long time since I had a G1. I never understood clearly how to transfer apps without the need to manually install them. Does creating a partition in the SD card to ext3 or ext4 have some factor to it? I would simply follow directions but didn't understand the process. Whenever I installed a new ROM, sometimes all of the apps would be install automatically and some ROMS would require me to install them manually. I also got Titaniumbackup Pro also. Is that still a good app to use to back up these days? Is there a popular app to back up text messaging as well or does many of the
Lately, I have been trying to find a good rom to use after many crashes of Andromadus V13. I am using the latest Anrdomadus Mimicry now and its great. Though, I realized that I didn't transfer any of my apps. As I was rooting a few ROMS previous to it, some would install a majority of the apps and others would require me to install them myself. Im curious of why this is so.
the auto restore is a function of the market, I don't like this method and choose no when I sign in (don't like wasting time and slowing things down cause of all the data over network or wifi
titanium back is my personal favorite way to restore apps on a new rom, there are other apps that will do this (romtollbox etc) tb will do texts but I have had issues with it
I use sms backup + for that and connect it to my google account
Sent from my HTC Vision using xda premium
Apps are tied to your Google Play account and normally get automatically re-installed after you start your phone back up after a new ROM. Except, sometimes installing your ROM gives your phone a new "name" and Google Play doesn't know that it's the same phone (even though it's on the same account). So, if you go to Google Play on your computer, you would have more than one choice of phones to download apps to - your old phone name and your new phone name. And I've also had the occasional app out of many that just doesn't re-install for some reason.
Two words : Titanium Backup (though mainly only useful if you can restore your old rom, run a backup, then flash the new rom back).
While google can half-ass restore your downloads (settings may not always be intact), Titanium Backup will actually restore all your backed up apps along with their full settings/etc. It can also restore your rom's Android ID so that restored apps don't conflict.
But yea since you already have it, you should know least that much. Personally I have not found anything better than 4EXT Recovery and Titanium Backup Pro when it comes to backing up and restoring data.
ps: it can backup your SMS/Call Logs/Wifi Access points, etc to XML files on your SD card which can be re-imported later, just in case the SMS/Etc backups performed are not compatible with your new rom's apps.