Develop Bugs

[Q] How to back up entire phone before downgrade for root

Hey guys,
I've searched the forums to no avail regarding this.
I'm currently on a newer sense rom on my desire z: 1.82. Which means if I want to root I need to downgrade. Every guide I read always starts with: make a backup. Good idea, but all the "complete backup" tools (titanium backup, rom manager, ...) require root to do their work.
So how the hell can I get a complete system image (preferably all partitions) without root so I could later return to my current stock rom with all my settings? Clearly I seem to be missing something here. I tried to start rom manager and titanium backup with psneuter temp root but that didn't work either.
Thanks for your help.
Cheers,
elitem0b

You can't, actually.
Sent from my HTC Desire Z(etta Awesome) using XDA App

Well since there is no other answer yet I assume that you simply can't do it ... what a shame. Anyway, to answer my own question there is a way to at least back up the apps, settings and system apps.
In case anyone else may need this:
Code:
adb pull /system/app/ c:\backup\destination\system\app
adb pull /data/app/ c:\backup\destination\data\app
adb pull /data/data/ c:\backup\destination\data\data
adb pull /data/misc/ c:\backup\destination\data\misc
First line backs up system apps
Second line backs up custom apps
Third line backs up custom apps' data
Fourth line backs up settings (e.g. wifi settings)
I put the apps in exactly the same folder structure so I know what to restore to which location in case I want to.
PS: You end up backing up more than you are probably able to restore (e.g. system apps) but it can't hurt
Cheers,
elitem0b

You can use titanium backup after temp root. If gyou use the rage method there is very low risk of damaging anything or even try using visionary for temp root ONLY then delete it after your done backing up and getting work root. This will allow you to save apps and data. Looks like you figured out a way to save system data but I wouldn't bother if I were you. All your contacts are backed up on Google anyway. There's not a whole lot of data to save that's worth risking a brick after.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App

elitem0b said:
Well since there is no other answer yet I assume that you simply can't do it ... what a shame. Anyway, to answer my own question there is a way to at least back up the apps, settings and system apps.
In case anyone else may need this:
Code:
adb pull /system/app/ c:\backup\destination\system\app
adb pull /data/app/ c:\backup\destination\data\app
adb pull /data/data/ c:\backup\destination\data\data
adb pull /data/misc/ c:\backup\destination\data\misc
First line backs up system apps
Second line backs up custom apps
Third line backs up custom apps' data
Fourth line backs up settings (e.g. wifi settings)
I put the apps in exactly the same folder structure so I know what to restore to which location in case I want to.
PS: You end up backing up more than you are probably able to restore (e.g. system apps) but it can't hurt
Cheers,
elitem0b
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I just finally managed to downgrade. Here is what I did to back up.
I used Astro to back up apps. I can easily restore apps after downgraded (but I have to firstly download Astro in order to restore apps)
Contact and calendar was backed up with Gmail.
Navigation map was saved in SD, so I didnt need to do anything.
But I lose my emails in hotmail account. I cant download the older mails (unlike GMAIL)
Now, my next step would be to gain permaroot
Cheers...

[Q] how to backup /sdcard ?

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE POST BEFORE REPLYING. IF YOU DON'T I'LL JUST REPORT YOU FOR SPAM.
just spent an hour trying to find a way to do this and no such luck. i've read that clockworkmod recovery, when doing a factory wipe does not wipe the /sdcard but i still would like to be able to make a backup.
I've tried simply doing a copy/paste but windows refuses to even attempt it. even trying to do one folder at a time gives me issues. i've resorted to using airdroid for all my file transferring needs.
But using airdroid, even trying to do a backup, it eventually goes so slow that it fails. I have 4Gb of data i want to backup, and eventually it just stops transferring. i could do it one file at a time but honestly i don't feel like spending hours.
so does anyone know of any program, or possible easy way, that won't take days, to backup the /sdcard

You could always use cloud storage. Sugarsync gives you 5GB for free. Also, you could try running an FTP server app on your phone and then connect to it from your computer. I've used FTPServer in the past and it has been pretty quick to transfer lots of data.(https://market.android.com/details?...t#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImx1dGV5LkZUUFNlcnZlciJd)

yeah, i've thought of that, my internet at home isn't that great though. 6Mbps down, 1Mbps up. so cloud storage hasn't worked that great for me in the past, but maybe i'll give that ftpserver a shot.
BTW, i would like absolute confirmation that if i choose Wipe data/factory reset in CWMR Touch 5.504 beta 3 it won't erase any of the data on /sdcard.
as i've read, any CWMR won't erase the sdcard partition, but doing that through ICS, will.

Isn't CWMR 5.5.0.4 the non-touch version? I was using 5.5.0.4 and I can confirm that "Wipe Data/Factory Reset" does NOT erase anything on /sdcard, but I haven't actually done it in any other versions.

Hmm... what about using terminal/adb shell to build a .tar(.gz) of /sdcard and just copy that over to your PC?

codesplice said:
Hmm... what about using terminal/adb shell to build a .tar(.gz) of /sdcard and just copy that over to your PC?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like a good idea if possible. correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't that allow you to use adb to restore all of your sd contents as well?

palisaide said:
Isn't CWMR 5.5.0.4 the non-touch version? I was using 5.5.0.4 and I can confirm that "Wipe Data/Factory Reset" does NOT erase anything on /sdcard, but I haven't actually done it in any other versions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
idk, mine has touch. not sure when/how i updated to it though. good to know that it doesn't though. thank you.

rsync backup for Android
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=871307
Since you're on Windows, you would need to setup an SSH server. People in that thread have done this. A Linux desktop would make things a tad easier though.
This is how I backup the microSD on all my phones.

neok44 said:
sounds like a good idea if possible. correct me if i'm wrong, but wouldn't that allow you to use adb to restore all of your sd contents as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe so. You'd of course have to find some other folder on your internal storage (not /sdcard) to store the tarball while it's being created.
Or heck, adb should be able to do it all for you:
Code:
adb backup -shared -noapk -nosystem
*should* (according to adb help output) backup your /sdcard to "backup.ab" in the current directory
Code:
adb restore backup.ab
*should* then restore it.

Also, checkout "adb backup"
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1420351
Allows you to set a flag to include shared content (the microSD). You could probably get it to backup just shared content.

so i've gone through my whole sd card trying to figure out exactly how much data really needs to be backed up, and it's not much. biggest thing ist he 1.5GB CWM backup. everything else is pretty tiny.
so i'm thinking of giving the cloud a try.
are there any that anyone can recommend? I'm hoping for one that i'll be able to choose what folders to backup and have it automatically do it at a time that i set.

neok44 said:
so i've gone through my whole sd card trying to figure out exactly how much data really needs to be backed up, and it's not much. biggest thing ist he 1.5GB CWM backup. everything else is pretty tiny.
so i'm thinking of giving the cloud a try.
are there any that anyone can recommend? I'm hoping for one that i'll be able to choose what folders to backup and have it automatically do it at a time that i set.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like dropbox + the DropSync app - best two-way cloud sync I've found yet.

Assuming you can get an MTP connection with your pc then try copying across the sdcard folders 1 at a time to back them up. First time I tried to back up the entire contents in a single go it seemed like it was stalled but it was actually just trying to work out how long it would take before starting and probably would have succeeded if left long enough. Copying the android folder and sometimes stall a copy so do that last.
Alternatively if you dont want to use cloud storage (which would take quite some time depending on upload speeds) you could try the backup option in my ToolKit which uses the latest version of adb and will give you an option to include internal storage in the backup file. Just make sure to check the backup file size after it completes as that function is a bit buggy in adb and has been known not to restore everything such as pictures and music so copy across what you can before starting.
Mark.

Thanks to both of you. I was able to do files one at a time and get them over. and luckily nothing was that big, except for the CWM backups. freaking 1.5GB, that alone is the reason why i wish i had a 32GB phone.
good to know that the toolkit has that option. i'll be sure to use that if i ever need to do a full backup in a hurry.
The dropbox dropsync solution sounds interesting and i'm gonna give that a try. basically i'm just trying to make sure my backup files from apps that don't use cloud syncing will be secure in case something ever goes wrong. with having only 13Gb in the phone i'm keeping most of my big stuff like movies in a 32gb microsd that i'm connecting with an OTG cable.

Although I don't think the tone of the first line of your OP is conducive to soliciting help, I'll thought in my two cents anyway.
The contents of your sdcard is located in /data/media. If you connect your phone to your PC, and open a command prompt in the same directory as your ADB.exe file, the following command will copy everything from your sdcard to your PC in a folder called sdcard_backup:
adb pull /data/media /sdcard_backup
Although not speedy by any means, I've successfully backed up over 8GB this way.

[Q] N7100 adb backup problems, and potential alternatives without rooting?

Yes, I'm a noob. No, I can't keep things brief. I'm sorry video, I just can't do it. Hello XDA. Here's my pickle:
So, my camera's faulty, and I'm going to have to send my Note II back to Kogan. This is my first Android handset, and my first time properly experiencing and using Android (I moved here from a Blackberry Pearl 9100). I don't consider myself a base-line user, I'm competent with many forms of electronics and computing so I quickly settled into Android nicely. Thus far I've rooted, flashed recovery and flashed CyanogenMod 9 for one Android phone (I was the first in my family to make the switch, my sister got a Galaxy Wonder for Christmas and I flashed CM9 so she could have at least ICS for her phone) and it was a fairly straight-forward process, nothing too difficult (although it seems my father's Motorola Defy+ might be a bit trickier).
I'll get to the point, due to the camera being basically dead on arrival, I've got to send it back. I don't want to send it back with all of my personal information intact however, I'd prefer to take a full backup of it and then factory reset the device before sending it away. This is where the warranty clause comes in.
I can't root the device (this action breaks warranty) and therefore can't flash CWM to do a nandroid backup. After some reading, a nandroid sounded like the ideal solution but obviously I can't do that. See, I wanted to backup all of my data, including (if possible) apps, settings, accounts, the works. I really don't want to have to go through the process of re-downloading all of my apps (my internet connection isn't the quickest around) and setting everything up just the way I want it again.
I stumbled across the adb backup technique, and considering the N7100 shipped with Jellybean 4.1 and adb backup requires ICS 4.0+, I thought "Hey, why not. It seems pretty straight forward." I also figured it'd be a small learning experience, I'm thinking about getting into android app development sometime in the near future and needed the SDK anyway so I downloaded and installed that, fired up adb and ran the backup with the following parameters:
Code:
adb backup -f <FILE PATH> -apk -shared -all -nosystem
And it seemed to get stuck on the apk for GTA Vice City. So, after about an hour of sitting, I pulled the plug and tried again. This time it got to Angry Birds and got stuck once more. I decided to run it again, but with a different set of parameters, I thought "Maybe it's getting stuck with the SD card data."
Code:
adb backup -f <FILE PATH> -apk -all -noshared -nosystem
This time it got stuck on Bad Piggies. I pulled the plug once more and started searching for answers, but there's not a huge amount of discussion about the backup function, let alone specific to the Note II. I read some stuff about the One X getting stuck on certain parts, but they certainly weren't games like this.
And that's the thing that links them all, they're games. I'm not sure if that specifically has any effect on the process, but I'm beginning to think that trying to back up EVERYTHING so that I can restore my device to the same state it is in now is a futile effort. Without the ease of a nandroid 'snapshot', I'm running out of ideas. I could go through and delete every game I've installed and try the backup again, but I'd like to see if anyone else has any alternatives or explanations.
Here are my queries, don't feel like you've got to answer them all, they're just the questions I've got in my head right now.
1. Is there any known reason as to why adb backup gets stuck on these apks?
2. Is there a better way of creating some form of 'snapshot' of my device without rooting it?
3. Would Samsung Kies' backup utility keep my app and system settings after a factory reset (in that it'd load up Nova Launcher with all of it's settings, along with the few widgets I have, intact)?
4. Are there any apps that would do this? I've heard Titanium Backup will, but you need to be rooted to use that.
I'm starting to feel that just doing it the manual way is going to be easier in the long run.
With question three, I'm assuming that Kies won't backup any apks, and therefore when my phone is sent back to me I'll have to set it up again, download my required/desired apps and then restore my settings through Kies (which will hopefully also restore settings for apps like Nova Launcher, and even better, for widget applications like HD widgets). However, if I'm wrong and Kies DOES backup apks, I'll just do that, it's so much less screwing around and it does what I wanted it to do but didn't think it did in the first place.
Thanks XDA,
-svdkillswitch
(Also, first post!)
Other information:
Device: GT-N7100 (international)
Carrier: Unlocked, Telstra
Android version: 4.1.1, 'Jelly Bean'
Baseband version: N7100UBALJ1
Build number: JRO03C.N7100UBALJ1
Rooted: No

Easiest way
Root with exynos abuse exploit (method 3 in link)and install titanium backup and backup all data using it. I recommend to save backup folder in Ext SD card.
After finishing this you can unroot from application itself.

dr.ketan said:
Easiest way
Root with exynos abuse exploit (method 3 in link)and install titanium backup and backup all data using it. I recommend to save backup folder in Ext SD card.
After finishing this you can unroot from application itself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help,
You say in the linked post that while it doesn't trigger the flash counter, it can cause problems with the camera. If I'm just temp-rooting, backing it up with Titanium, and then un-rooting it again, none of these effects will remain I assume. I guess it doesn't matter too much anyway actually, because my camera is the reason I'm sending it back in.
And once I get my device back, it's as simple as installing the apk, rooting the device, installing Titanium and restoring my backup from the ext SD.
Sounds good. I'll give it a whirl and let you know how I go. +1'd.
-svdkillswitch

It cause camera issue only if you disable exploit, here you need not to do anything rather thn just root.
-Install that apk file, get device rooted.(there is option to root device in application), you need not to check disable exploit
-Install titanium Pro from market and backup (first select backup location to Ext sd card)
- Once finish, uninstall titanium and unroot device from exynose app
You can also factory reset and send to service centre.

dr.ketan said:
It cause camera issue only if you disable exploit, here you need not to do anything rather thn just root.
-Install that apk file, get device rooted.(there is option to root device in application), you need not to check disable exploit
-Install titanium Pro from market and backup (first select backup location to Ext sd card)
- Once finish, uninstall titanium and unroot device from exynose app
You can also factory reset and send to service centre.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that's all I did. Rooted, installed Titanium and backed-up my data to the external SD card. I've un-rooted the device, all I need to do now is factory reset.
Thanks for your help, much appreciated.
-svdkillswitch

but adb doesnt work

Helium Backup on LG G4 (H815)

Has anyone gotten Helium to work yet?
I've been playing around with it for the last hour or so and I'm not having any luck. I've tried PTP, MTP, installing updated drivers, just won't take.
Am I missing something? Or is this just not supported yet?

ClockworkMod Support says they are currently looking into the issues. Sounds like it just doesn't like the phone for whatever reason. Bummer

I could make the PC showing "Green Tick" mark and saying phone is connected, but the app in the mobile saying "waiting for the connection in pc" which is weird.

Thank god i was at the point of doing a fresh install of Windows because i thought my drivers where screwed up

nipun1110 said:
I could make the PC showing "Green Tick" mark and saying phone is connected, but the app in the mobile saying "waiting for the connection in pc" which is weird.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the same issue I was having, just making sure I wasn't crazy!

So what are the alternatives?
Getting your new phone to act like the old one is the worst part of getting a new phone. Ugh, first world problems. Actually was dreading even receiving my G4 because of this and now Helium doesn't even work.
This is my first non Nexus in a long time. How else can I move all my apps and app data over??

Yes, same problem here. I've emailed [email protected] to let them know.
I'm going to mention the unmentionable:
When you get a new iPhone on the day of release, you log in, and wait while everything is restored.
How's the average non-XDA Android owner supposed to move to a new phone?! Even us XDA readers have to wait for Helium, for boot unlock, root to catch up with us.

I got this reply from Clockworkmod support:
"Hi there, we are looking into the G4 issues now, sorry for your frustration. "
Fingers crossed!

scirio said:
So what are the alternatives?
Getting your new phone to act like the old one is the worst part of getting a new phone. Ugh, first world problems. Actually was dreading even receiving my G4 because of this and now Helium doesn't even work.
This is my first non Nexus in a long time. How else can I move all my apps and app data over??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to still use Helium to backup, then did a manual restore with adb. I had a rooted Nexus 5 and used Helium like normal to do a backup. Then copied the 'carbon' folder from the Nexus 5 to my PC. What Helium is really doing is using adb to restore data, so after you have the Helium backup, you can connect your G4 to your PC (and all needed drivers) and use the command 'adb restore'. It is a bit tedious, as you need to restore each application separately, but it works. Example:
adb restore <path to carbon folder>/com.application.example/com.application.example.ab
Then follow the instructions on screen on the G4 and enter a password if you did when you did the backup in Helium.
I also used SMSBackupandRestore (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore&hl=en) for SMS, MMS and call logs, since adb can't do those without root.
Got my G4 back to pretty much the same state. Would be much easier with root and Titanium, but for now it did the job.

unnamedapps said:
I was able to still use Helium to backup, then did a manual restore with adb. I had a rooted Nexus 5 and used Helium like normal to do a backup. Then copied the 'carbon' folder from the Nexus 5 to my PC. What Helium is really doing is using adb to restore data, so after you have the Helium backup, you can connect your G4 to your PC (and all needed drivers) and use the command 'adb restore'. It is a bit tedious, as you need to restore each application separately, but it works. Example:
adb restore <path to carbon folder>/com.application.example/com.application.example.ab
Then follow the instructions on screen on the G4 and enter a password if you did when you did the backup in Helium.
I also used SMSBackupandRestore (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.SMSBackupRestore&hl=en) for SMS, MMS and call logs, since adb can't do those without root.
Got my G4 back to pretty much the same state. Would be much easier with root and Titanium, but for now it did the job.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
or you could try the less tedious job of http://htc-one.wonderhowto.com/how-...-apps-your-htc-one-using-adb-for-mac-0151180/
which is essentially what helium does anyway....

soyelmango said:
Yes, same problem here. I've emailed [email protected] to let them know.
I'm going to mention the unmentionable:
When you get a new iPhone on the day of release, you log in, and wait while everything is restored.
How's the average non-XDA Android owner supposed to move to a new phone?! Even us XDA readers have to wait for Helium, for boot unlock, root to catch up with us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is LG Backup. Going from an LG G2, G3 maybe others, to the G4 it does a very thorough job of restoring sms/mms, call logs, apps dat/settings, etc. Coming from other Android phones it's only a matter of Google automatically downloading the apps/data and copying over the data. Contacts stored in Gmail is important. I've helped non techie friends do this - very easy.

starfcker69 said:
There is LG Backup. Going from an LG G2, G3 maybe others, to the G4 it does a very thorough job of restoring sms/mms, call logs, apps dat/settings, etc. Coming from other Android phones it's only a matter of Google automatically downloading the apps/data and copying over the data. Contacts stored in Gmail is important. I've helped non techie friends do this - very easy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Too bad the Verizon Fun Police took the LG Backup away, for some of us.

icecold23 said:
Too bad the Verizon Fun Police took the LG Backup away, for some of us.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Verizon must know what's best for you!

starfcker69 said:
Verizon must know what's best for you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, and my phone prompts me to eat all my vegetables before I can send a text. So annoying...

starfcker69 said:
... Coming from other Android phones it's only a matter of Google automatically downloading the apps/data and copying over the data. Contacts stored in Gmail is important...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what I thought too. I've got contacts, calendar, etc on my Google account, so no problem there. However, the only data Google restored was my Google sign in (that is, access to contacts, calendar, gmail, etc) - but not the app settings themselves, not even for their own Gmail app. The concept of Google backing up and restoring app data is fantastic, but unfortunately in practice, I haven't seen it happen.

if you just want to restore some backup from previous phone to G4, you could always use adb command to do that instead of helium app, just type
adb restore "backup location", where the "backup location" is the location that you put your helium backup, the file with the extension .ab

emprize said:
if you just want to restore some backup from previous phone to G4, you could always use adb command to do that instead of helium app, just type
adb restore "backup location", where the "backup location" is the location that you put your helium backup, the file with the extension .ab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was able to restore my Helium backups one backup at a time (a pain but at least I got the important stuff), but I was not able to do a adb backup of my old phone (something like this "adb backup -noapk -noshared -nosystem -all -f c:\backup.ab" and restore it to the G4. It would say restoring for about 1-2 seconds and then quit with no error and nothing restored. It would have been very nice to get it work using only adb and do it all with one file and one command...

ColdBrew said:
I was able to restore my Helium backups one backup at a time (a pain but at least I got the important stuff), but I was not able to do a adb backup of my old phone (something like this "adb backup -noapk -noshared -nosystem -all -f c:\backup.ab" and restore it to the G4. It would say restoring for about 1-2 seconds and then quit with no error and nothing restored. It would have been very nice to get it work using only adb and do it all with one file and one command...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
try downloading adb over wifi and try again (if you need to)

No news from Helium ? Same trouble here.

No news? I have the same problem

Best way to backup data before rooting

Hi guys! What is the best way to backup as much data as possible before rooting? I'm coming from an iPhone but prior to it I was on Android so I'm a little rusty. I'm aware of TiBu backups but if I recall correctly you need root to get a full backup. What I'm doing now is backing up everything through Google Drive backups and Google Photos. Is there an app that can maybe batch backup/restore apks along with their data without root? I'd like to keep as much data as possible like app data and MMS before I wipe and root.
One more thing, I'm currently on the 8.1 official firmware but came from the DP2 OTA. If I were to unenroll from the beta program, will it force a wipe? I know it forces a wipe when unenrolling and going down to the 8.0 firmware but since it's on the same version of Android, will it still require a wipe?
Thanks in advance for any help.

I hope someone has a better one. But one that is clunky but works without root is Helium by clockworkmod. Need a PC since you run a program on the PC as part of the process. Not all apps will backup with it, but it does lots of apps. I can pretty much do all the apps I need to do that aren't already backed up by Google backup. Most of the apps that won't allow backup will be financial ones and others that you just log back into your account, and you're back in business that way.
You download the Helium app from the playstore. When you run the app, it'll tell you to connect to a PC. And it'll show you a link to download a program for the PC. The program on the PC is what allows the app on the phone to do backups. I don't know if ADB or Android tools have to also be installed, but I think it stands alone. You have to run the PC program every time to do backups. After the first time, you just start the program, plug the phone to the PC and start the app, or any change in order of those steps you want.
The clunky part for me is the password. You have to set a password for the phone since the app can't access the data without the password. So it can't be a pattern lock or pin.
That's no big deals since you only need to do this when backing up so can just temporarily change it, and is not the clunky part.
Here's the clunky part. When you go to backup, It makes no difference whether you've saved the password or not. When you get to the password field It'll autofill the password (with any characters saved or not) in addition to anything you started filling and the start backing up. Then may finally say backup failed. If you wait enough time it will not auto enter stuff, then you can manually enter the password. And it'll backup just fine. But it will show a prompt that the device is protected so enter the password. So you enter it all over again. Except this time it has some data to autofill in. So if you want to select another app to backup, it'll seem to backup better. Except it often will give an error.
For me, the best approach seems to be don't save the password in the app. Wait for a few seconds to make sure it isn't going to try to auto-enter. Manually enter the password. When it prompts the second time, just cancel instead of entering anything.
And after I just typed all that, I kept getting backup failed trying to do a backup. I finally managed to do it, but it is like that every time I try. some days it just works first time. Some days it takes trying different things. Once it a while it is better to save the password.
Anyway, the backups are good. Oh, after you've selected the apps/data to backup. Go to the bottom and kinda pull up below the green line and it'll show a check box to just save the data and not the app apk if you want a smaller size backup. I think it is faster just saving the app with it if you are moving or backing up to restore. Otherwise you have to wait for the download and install from the playstore.
The backups end up in their own folder in a folder named Carbon.

lacaprjc said:
Hi guys! What is the best way to backup as much data as possible before rooting? I'm coming from an iPhone but prior to it I was on Android so I'm a little rusty. I'm aware of TiBu backups but if I recall correctly you need root to get a full backup. What I'm doing now is backing up everything through Google Drive backups and Google Photos. Is there an app that can maybe batch backup/restore apks along with their data without root? I'd like to keep as much data as possible like app data and MMS before I wipe and root.
One more thing, I'm currently on the 8.1 official firmware but came from the DP2 OTA. If I were to unenroll from the beta program, will it force a wipe? I know it forces a wipe when unenrolling and going down to the 8.0 firmware but since it's on the same version of Android, will it still require a wipe?
Thanks in advance for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
learn: adb backup
when unenrolling from the beta, and you are already on current stable, it will not wipe, nor update.

Voicebox said:
I hope someone has a better one. But one that is clunky but works without root is Helium by clockworkmod. Need a PC since you run a program on the PC as part of the process. Not all apps will backup with it, but it does lots of apps. I can pretty much do all the apps I need to do that aren't already backed up by Google backup. Most of the apps that won't allow backup will be financial ones and others that you just log back into your account, and you're back in business that way.
You download the Helium app from the playstore. When you run the app, it'll tell you to connect to a PC. And it'll show you a link to download a program for the PC. The program on the PC is what allows the app on the phone to do backups. I don't know if ADB or Android tools have to also be installed, but I think it stands alone. You have to run the PC program every time to do backups. After the first time, you just start the program, plug the phone to the PC and start the app, or any change in order of those steps you want.
The clunky part for me is the password. You have to set a password for the phone since the app can't access the data without the password. So it can't be a pattern lock or pin.
That's no big deals since you only need to do this when backing up so can just temporarily change it, and is not the clunky part.
Here's the clunky part. When you go to backup, It makes no difference whether you've saved the password or not. When you get to the password field It'll autofill the password (with any characters saved or not) in addition to anything you started filling and the start backing up. Then may finally say backup failed. If you wait enough time it will not auto enter stuff, then you can manually enter the password. And it'll backup just fine. But it will show a prompt that the device is protected so enter the password. So you enter it all over again. Except this time it has some data to autofill in. So if you want to select another app to backup, it'll seem to backup better. Except it often will give an error.
For me, the best approach seems to be don't save the password in the app. Wait for a few seconds to make sure it isn't going to try to auto-enter. Manually enter the password. When it prompts the second time, just cancel instead of entering anything.
And after I just typed all that, I kept getting backup failed trying to do a backup. I finally managed to do it, but it is like that every time I try. some days it just works first time. Some days it takes trying different things. Once it a while it is better to save the password.
Anyway, the backups are good. Oh, after you've selected the apps/data to backup. Go to the bottom and kinda pull up below the green line and it'll show a check box to just save the data and not the app apk if you want a smaller size backup. I think it is faster just saving the app with it if you are moving or backing up to restore. Otherwise you have to wait for the download and install from the playstore.
The backups end up in their own folder in a folder named Carbon.
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Thanks for the help! I'm gonna try this method now and let you know if all is well.

lacaprjc said:
Hi guys! What is the best way to backup as much data as possible before rooting?
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Sounds like you've done all you can... except for unlocking the phone as soon as you got it. Just make sure you use both separate unlock commands and get unlock and unlock_critical done properly. I think you'll find the phone will be pretty much back where you left it. Just get on with it ffs! Not a big deal.