Develop Bugs

[Q] Wiping then restoring with CWM

This is a Noob question, if I wipe data and cache 3 times with CWM and then restore a backup created just before with CWM doesn't it put back all the stuff that I tried to wipe for clean ROM flashing? Or is there garbage in there that does not get backed up and restored?
Thanks.

It will put pretty much everything back. It doesn't backup and restore the kernel, though.

So what is the purpose of wiping 3 times. Does that allow the new ROM kernel to install properly? Then we can restore everything back on top of the new kernel? The main reason I ask is after flashing a new ROM and only wiping once (I know!) about once every other day my txt messages get stuck sending. I have to reboot to send and then the clock starts again until this reoccurs. So is it best to backup with CWM, wipe 3 times, flash, then restore with CWM?
Thanks.

Wiping three times is because there has been a question about whether clockwork 2.5.x wipes certain partitions properly. Apparently it returns back from the function much faster than it should. Some people do seem to have intermittent problems when wiping once. I generally only wipe once between roms, but if anything isn't working right I go back and wipe 3x and reinstall.
Generally, when you wipe something, you aren't going to be restoring it all back. You want to wipe between different roms because certain things may be set up differently in the two and you may get weird glitches and force closes. If you are wiping to get rid of a bug, then you shouldn't restore a buggy backup or you will probably still have the bug.
You can try doing a reinstall of the base rom, wiping first of course. Then you can go restore->advanced restore->restore data to get apps and settings back. See if you still have the problem. If so, then you're going to have to wipe again and reinstall the base rom, but DONT restore your backup. You may be able to carry some apps and settings across with something like Titanium if you absolutely can't start from scratch again.

AH! Now I get it...thank you for that explanation. Tried the 3X wipe today with restore from CWM 2.5.1 so will wait and see if the SMS problem shows up again. Thank you again.

[Q] A few questions about flashing ROMs

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.

Random crashes after restoring to backup.

I had flashed Warm TwoPointThree. Didn't really like it so I restored to my nandroid back up. Now the phone randomly crashes for no apparent reason. It is sitting next to me on my desk and just now it crashed, wasn't even touching it. Secondary to the crashes is that after it happen and I try to report the phone is registering no charge and then immediately shuts down till I put it on a charger, regardless of actual battery charge.
Edit
More info. It has never crashed while on the charger. Don't know if that is relevant.

Did you wipe properly prior to restoring your nandroid? Also, what recovery are you using? If it's not Amon-ra, you need to get it! Make sure when doing a nandroid restore you have the appropriate items checked for restore (Assuming you did this when making the nandroid to begin with). Usually Boot, System, Data, and SD ext if partitioned.

Im using Amon-ra and I have an unpartitioned SD card. What do you mean by wipe? I'm a new to the entire rooting thing.

You need to wipe all data factory reset, boot, system, and dalvik cache in recovery three times each. Then restore your nandroid. You can also use a superwipe script but I feel manually wiping them is best.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA

dieselford said:
You need to wipe all data factory reset, boot, system, and dalvik cache in recovery three times each. Then restore your nandroid. You can also use a superwipe script but I feel manually wiping them is best.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I use the wipe feature in Amon-ra to do this?

Yes. That is the way to do it.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

Try fix permissions, I think RA has it under other, or if u have Rom manager there is an option to fix permissions
Sent from my Synergized Aggressive Lionfish Evo using the XDA app

I think I may have found a problem with the backup I was using. For some reason the backup file had 2 copies of every entry.
Under the other tad in RA recovery there was options to fix apk uid mismatches and move recovery.log to SD.
I selected the fix apk uid mismatches. Im hoping that is the fix permissions that the previous poster was talking about. If not then can I get some direction in doing it properly?

SabaBoBaba said:
I think I may have found a problem with the backup I was using. For some reason the backup file had 2 copies of every entry.
Under the other tad in RA recovery there was options to fix apk uid mismatches and move recovery.log to SD.
I selected the fix apk uid mismatches. Im hoping that is the fix permissions that the previous poster was talking about. If not then can I get some direction in doing it properly?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes that's it.

Well the crashes have started again. They seem to start slow, one crash then like 3 days later another and then just increase in frequency, today it crashed 5 times before noon. I'm at the point that I think perhaps I need to wipe and not attempt to do a restore. My concern is will I lose my root if I do that?

Will I lose root if I do wipe with out restoring afterward?

SabaBoBaba said:
Will I lose root if I do wipe with out restoring afterward?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you wipe without restoring, you won't have a ROM on your device. You'll have to flash one, and as long as it's a custom or rooted stock ROM, you'll be fine.

Well I did a factory reset tonight so we'll see how that goes. Thanks to those people who contributed.

Well I did the factory reset and this morning it crashed again. I'm at a loss. All this started after I installed the Warm 2.3 ROM and then restored back to a backup to get the stock ROM back. Any thoughts on what to try now?

Any further help that anyone can offer on this. I'm at the end of what I can think of to do

SabaBoBaba said:
Any further help that anyone can offer on this. I'm at the end of what I can think of to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just stop restoring and flash a ROM from scratch. Do a full wipe (everything except SD card), and then flash the ROM (custom or stock) or your choice. It seems that the restore is at the root of your problem, so it may be time to give up on that.
Current ROM (BootManager Slot 5): ICS-Deck-PreBeta20 | Kernel: Mason v0.14 SBC (FSO)

Captain_Throwback said:
Just stop restoring and flash a ROM from scratch. Do a full wipe (everything except SD card), and then flash the ROM (custom or stock) or your choice. It seems that the restore is at the root of your problem, so it may be time to give up on that.
Current ROM (BootManager Slot 5): ICS-Deck-PreBeta20 | Kernel: Mason v0.14 SBC (FSO)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well Im going to flash this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1455340&highlight=stock+rom and see if that works. Thanks for the assist.

After wiping last night and loading the rooted version of the latest stock ROM it crashed again today. Next idea?

Try wiping in recovery by flashing Edify_Format_ALL (found on xda). I manually wipe Dalvik, habit... Flash rom from scratch. I use Titanium Backup to back up apps and data just for these situations. Some caches are moved to SD card, maybe delete these folders and let system rebuild them. (ie android_secure).
Hope you get it sorted out.

Grizraz said:
Try wiping in recovery by flashing Edify_Format_ALL (found on xda). I manually wipe Dalvik, habit... Flash rom from scratch. I use Titanium Backup to back up apps and data just for these situations. Some caches are moved to SD card, maybe delete these folders and let system rebuild them. (ie android_secure).
Hope you get it sorted out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill give that a shot. I hope I can fix what ever I did to foul this thing up.
Just from searching the forums I really dont understand this edify thing. Can you help be get some clarity on it?

[Q] Regarding backups and restores. Please help!

Hello XDA, I am in need of great assistance regarding backups and restores, I am somewhat new and not very experienced with this. I'll keep this short.
Here is what I would like to do:
I have a Galaxy Nexus from the Play store and running 4.2.1 from a stock google image I flashed, I have it set up the way I want to with all my apps, etc. Turns out I don't like the performance from this version on my phone as it feels slugish so I want to either try a 4.2.1 ROM or go back to 4.1.2 but I don't want to set up everything again, both having to download the apps and setting them up the way I have them right now, same with my phone settings (brightness, keyboard settings, etc).
Can I do that and if so how? I have a pro version of Titanium Backup but having my backup restored on another rom breaks it and puts me in a boot loop upon reboot. I also tried making a nandroid backup but upon restoring it brought everything back, including the old ROM! Upon some reading I found out about the advance restore and to just restore data but that puts me back in the same boot loop on the new ROM.
Ultimately what I want to do is restore my phone and app settings in a simple way, I don't care about to manually downloading the apps but I do want to restore their settings and phone's settings in an easy way so I can safely try out new ROMs without having to set up every configuration again.
Please help me I've struggled with this for a while and it always keeps me from trying roms.

dont restore system apps/settings, that can cause you to get bootloops... you can try this if you want
- Backup your current setup either with TWRP or CWM (I prefer TWRP)
- Do a full wipe (cache/dalvik cache, system and factory reset)
- Flash the new ROM, gapps and your preferred kernel
- Restore ONLY data from the backup your made
- Reboot and enjoy

k786 said:
dont restore system apps/settings, that can cause you to get bootloops... you can try this if you want
- Backup your current setup either with TWRP or CWM (I prefer TWRP)
- Do a full wipe (cache/dalvik cache, system and factory reset)
- Flash the new ROM, gapps and your preferred kernel
- Restore ONLY data from the backup your made
- Reboot and enjoy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that's exactly what I did the last time, I created a backup in CWM, performed a full wipe, flashed the ROM, etc, booted up the phone, then went back into recovery and restored the data only from the advanced restore in CWM and that caused me to be stuck in a boot loop when I rebooted.
Could really use some help hopefully someone else can respond.

Zevh said:
I think that's exactly what I did the last time, I created a backup in CWM, performed a full wipe, flashed the ROM, etc, booted up the phone, then went back into recovery and restored the data only from the advanced restore in CWM and that caused me to be stuck in a boot loop when I rebooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Restoring the /data partition is the problem, it contains the settings for both system and user apps. Probably some system settings are the issue.
Just use TB to restore user apps and their data and then selectively restore system data (NOT the system apps.) I usually restore only SMS/MMS, call logs, and WiFi access points.
Restore system data one or two apps at a time, rebooting after each restore. If bootloop or FC's occur then you know what not to restore next time. Just clear data for the effected app and continue.
Also, in TB the xml restore is usually a safer bet where it's available.

cschmitt said:
Restoring the /data partition is the problem, it contains the settings for both system and user apps. Probably some system settings are the issue.
Just use TB to restore user apps and their data and then selectively restore system data (NOT the system apps.) I usually restore only SMS/MMS, call logs, and WiFi access points.
Restore system data one or two apps at a time, rebooting after each restore. If bootloop or FC's occur then you know what not to restore next time. Just clear data for the effected app and continue.
Also, in TB the xml restore is usually a safer bet where it's available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This did it! Tried it yesterday and it worked, I got almost everything back, thanks!

[Q] stuck in Venom Viper One boot after installing RootCloak

Hello!
I have installed RootCloak and after the needed reboot of the phone, it is always stuck in Viper One logo boot screen.
When I wipe Dalvik, I get the actualization screen from Android and after checking the apps nothing else happens. Just "apps are getting started" and the spinning circle....
Any ideas how to recover my phone?
I can't perform a backup because CWM says it cannot mount the sd-card and there is not enough space on internal memory.....

Can you reflash the rom?
And why are you wanting to do a backup of a corrupt system?

KJ said:
Can you reflash the rom?
And why are you wanting to do a backup of a corrupt system?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have already reflashed the ROM, but no effort.
All I want to save are SMS and photos. Can I secure them on any way?

Do you have a nandroid backup from your recovery that you can restore? And if not... Why? ? Everyone should do a backup before flashing anything.... Then you always can restore to your previous state.
That will not wipe your pics. But sms yes. Just about anything you do will wipe your sms's .
There may be a way to adb pull your texts and even pics... If you can get into adb mode in your recovery. But you'd have search on that, I've never done it.
Anyway, Another option is from recovery, wiping system, data, cache and dalvik and clean installing your rom. Whatever that app did will be wiped. Pics will be fine. But again, sms gone.
That's all the ideas I have. Aside from returning to stock.

KJ said:
Do you have a nandroid backup from your recovery that you can restore? And if not... Why? ? Everyone should do a backup before flashing anything.... Then you always can restore to your previous state.
That will not wipe your pics. But sms yes. Just about anything you do will wipe your sms's .
There may be a way to adb pull your texts and even pics... If you can get into adb mode in your recovery. But you'd have search on that, I've never done it.
Anyway, Another option is from recovery, wiping system, data, cache and dalvik and clean installing your rom. Whatever that app did will be wiped. Pics will be fine. But again, sms gone.
That's all the ideas I have. Aside from returning to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a nandroid backup when I installed the ROM, sure...
But I did not make a new one while installing RootCloaker, because it is "just an app". so the backup is too old any many SMS will be gone.
Can I access the device via ADB when it is in recovery?

Schlicki said:
I have a nandroid backup when I installed the ROM, sure...
But I did not make a new one while installing RootCloaker, because it is "just an app". so the backup is too old any many SMS will be gone.
Can I access the device via ADB when it is in recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it has the option. In twrp it's in advanced menu I believe. Not sure about others.
Restoring your nandroid will likely get you running. In the future, backup texts with sms backup and restore or a similar app. Then you'll be good.
Or let go of the past like I do.... I start fresh with texts after every flash. But that's me. To each their own. ?
But at this point, you're missing out on your phones functionality over them. And whether you can pull the with adb , I'm not even sure.
Good luck though!