Develop Bugs

[Q] Latest Fresh Rom Apps restoring automatically (SOLVED)

I am trying to load fresh 4.5.0.1 and I am coming from CM 6.1.1 and also gingerbread test roms.
I have Calkulin's format all zip, and use it to wipe the entire device before moving from rom to rom.
My recovery is the latest amon ra.
Everytime I load a fresh.... fresh rom, it loads perfect, except that when it finally loads to where the phone is usable, all these old apps I used to use are loaded (many of them paid apps). They are old versions, so these apps aren't coming from the android market automatically.
I have all of these apps backed up on my sdcard, under an "apps" folder. I thought maybe it was loading them from this and have tried renaming it, and also totally removing it. These apps still installed automatically.
So my question is.... where on earth are they coming from? I just loaded CM7.0 gingerbread nightly build and these apps don't install. I loaded fresh 5-6 times today and these apps show up every time.
Any ideas? I have a pretty firm grasp on android and my EVO, but this is just baffling me. I bet it is something really simple too...
Help please!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Let me also add that I have tried using calkulin's format all.zip, and the wipe system data, cache, and dalvik together to make absolutely sure the device is being wiped.
I do not use apps2sd, or have any apps installed to my sdcard.

I think it has to do with you setting up your gmail account when you first power on the phone after flashing. Try resetting it and skip the email setup part. When you click on market it should prompt you to log in.
I'll also add that when you set up your gmail in the beginning there is an option for backup apps and data (something along those lines). I always check the box and I think that's what you did.

gqstatus0685 said:
I think it has to do with you setting up your gmail account when you first power on the phone after flashing. Try resetting it and skip the email setup part. When you click on market it should prompt you to log in.
I'll also add that when you set up your gmail in the beginning there is an option for backup apps and data (something along those lines). I always check the box and I think that's what you did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was the only thing I could think of as well. However, I can't seem to find that option for google to backup your apps. It used to be during the setup, which it isn't, and it also was under privacy in settings, which I can't find either.
I am seeing all these apps before I sync my google account.
Maybe I am just going crazy...

I thought of another tidbit to add...
I have flashed a stock rooted rom, and the apps do not install, even after syncing with my google account. Fresh 4.5.0.1 is the only rom this happens on.

This says solved... what was the solution?
When I ran the start up wizard, it asked if I wanted Google to back up my settings and I said no. Why does it still try and install loads of apps I used to use?
Was the solution not to sign in to your Google account during the wizard?

Step by step to flash CM7 from stock without losing data

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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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.
Click to expand...
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!
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
howd you get the animations back?

mbernusg said:
howd you get the animations back?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
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?

[Q] Arghhhhh, TouchWiz Messed Up

I had LauncherPro running and used Titanium backup to freeze it. Now I cant use my Note coz it just keeps telling me that the TouchWiz is stopped and then the screen blacks out. Cant even get to Titanium Backup to unfreeze it.
Please help to either unfreeze or to reset in some way back to anything that works.

You could try installing another launcher via the play store website. It'll get pushed to your phone providing it's got a network connection.
I'm not sure if you can unfreeze an app via adb, if so you could give that a go.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

cant go to playstore or anything else on the note. can't change home screens, cant open an app either. can only use the hardware button to shut down. the touch screen is giving a stopped message when i unlock after boot and when I ok the message the screen blacks out. the message comes back in a few seconds but I can only ok the message and then the screen blacks out. CLOSED LOOP.

I meant go to the play store on a PC, it will get pushed to your phone over the air.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

I deleteed TouchWiz launcher with Titanium and now I don't have any FCs or problems with my Nova Prime launcher.

The white LauncherPro installed over the air from my pc but it didnt help as I dont have a way to activate it on my Note. Would need to see the screen to go into settings to activate it.
I'll have a look at adb even though I am quite sure it will not have the unfreeze option. Maybe I can reset to factory or similar.
Any other ideas are welcome.

It should have detected a new launcher and given you the option to select it, try something like GoLauncher (different from Launcher Pro you installed).
I'm still trying to think of ways to do it without resorting to wiping the phone.
If I do I'll let you know.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

Just use odin to flash a stock rom. Or wipe your phone from the recovery.
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

You can just reflash the to stock again.

i tried the go launcher and it worked fine but the ended up with google play and titanium backup missing among the installed apps so couldnt unfreeze LauncherPro and the if selected TouchWiz was still messed up. I finally gave up used adb to reboot into cwm and reset to factory.
Really confusing the TouchWiz is still an issue after the reset. and can't do any action on the phone. Looks like I will have to flash back to stock unless somebody can come up with something else otherwise please point me to where i can find the stock rom and flashing instructions.

i tried the go launcher and it worked fine but the ended up with google play and titanium backup missing among the installed apps so couldnt unfreeze LauncherPro and the if selected TouchWiz was still messed up. I finally gave up used adb to reboot into cwm and reset to factory.
Really confusing the TouchWiz is still an issue after the reset. and can't do any action on the phone. Looks like I will have to flash back to stock unless somebody can come up with something else otherwise please point me to where i can find the stock rom and flashing instructions.

MutantWizard said:
i tried the go launcher and it worked fine but the ended up with google play and titanium backup missing among the installed apps so couldnt unfreeze LauncherPro and the if selected TouchWiz was still messed up. I finally gave up used adb to reboot into cwm and reset to factory.
Really confusing the TouchWiz is still an issue after the reset. and can't do any action on the phone. Looks like I will have to flash back to stock unless somebody can come up with something else otherwise please point me to where i can find the stock rom and flashing instructions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had a similar problem as the OP and though this thread didn't really help me, I figured I'd post what wound up working for me.
For starters, I was going to follow what was recommended on the Titanium Backup FAQ Item#21:
titaniumtrack.com/kb/titanium-backup-kb/titanium-backup-troubleshooting.html#frozen-too-many-apps-now-cant-use-device-to-launch-TB
However, I wasn't in front of my computer and I didn't want to be phone-less all day, so I tried to find some work around to get where I could unfreeze the important apps in TB.
My main problem was that I couldn't access any apps due to the fact that the home page would immediately fail and give me the "Touchwhiz Home has stopped working" error.
I still had partial access to the phone in that I could still access the pull-down menu.
Blocking mode was enabled so it showed up in the pull-down menu and I could click on it and then get into my phone settings.
I tried going through settings to get to TB and while I could get to the Application Manager, I couldn't directly launch it from there. I force-closed TB and rebooted the phone...big surprise, nothing changed.
I figured wiping Dalvic was worth a shot too (from CWM), but that didn't have much of an effect either (though it did force an app update on reboot).
Anyway, since I still had access to the pull down menu and notifications, I decided to see if I could txt myself a link (from another phone) to the TB googleplay location since you can launch the application directly from the Play store. Well, I got the txt, but I couldn't open it due to a "messaging has stopped working" error every time I clicked on it.
Since I got the notification, I knew information was still obviously getting to my phone, so I figured I'd give it a try via gmail since it is less tied to the phone launcher than messaging.
Sure enough, I got the notification and I was able to open gmail from the notification. Clicking on the googleplay link in the email successfully launched the Playstore. From there I was able to launch Titanium Backup and unfreeze Touchwhiz Home.
Hope this helps someone else, I was really not looking forward to doing a complete wipe and re-install of my whole phone.
This simple jumping around to get to TB does obviously require that you can access your notifications and that you have them turned on...otherwise you're still screwed.

If your phone is rooted and you have a custom Rom on, just Reinstall the Rom again without wiping anything through recovery. It will bring back the touchwiz launcher without touching your data. It might reset your app settings back at least all your contacts, messages, etc will still be there.
Sent from the rabbit hole.

Waterskeeter said:
I had a similar problem as the OP and though this thread didn't really help me, I figured I'd post what wound up working for me.
For starters, I was going to follow what was recommended on the Titanium Backup FAQ Item#21:
titaniumtrack.com/kb/titanium-backup-kb/titanium-backup-troubleshooting.html#frozen-too-many-apps-now-cant-use-device-to-launch-TB
However, I wasn't in front of my computer and I didn't want to be phone-less all day, so I tried to find some work around to get where I could unfreeze the important apps in TB.
My main problem was that I couldn't access any apps due to the fact that the home page would immediately fail and give me the "Touchwhiz Home has stopped working" error.
I still had partial access to the phone in that I could still access the pull-down menu.
Blocking mode was enabled so it showed up in the pull-down menu and I could click on it and then get into my phone settings.
I tried going through settings to get to TB and while I could get to the Application Manager, I couldn't directly launch it from there. I force-closed TB and rebooted the phone...big surprise, nothing changed.
I figured wiping Dalvic was worth a shot too (from CWM), but that didn't have much of an effect either (though it did force an app update on reboot).
Anyway, since I still had access to the pull down menu and notifications, I decided to see if I could txt myself a link (from another phone) to the TB googleplay location since you can launch the application directly from the Play store. Well, I got the txt, but I couldn't open it due to a "messaging has stopped working" error every time I clicked on it.
Since I got the notification, I knew information was still obviously getting to my phone, so I figured I'd give it a try via gmail since it is less tied to the phone launcher than messaging.
Sure enough, I got the notification and I was able to open gmail from the notification. Clicking on the googleplay link in the email successfully launched the Playstore. From there I was able to launch Titanium Backup and unfreeze Touchwhiz Home.
Hope this helps someone else, I was really not looking forward to doing a complete wipe and re-install of my whole phone.
This simple jumping around to get to TB does obviously require that you can access your notifications and that you have them turned on...otherwise you're still screwed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very clever
Sent from my GT-N7100 using xda app-developers app

I just went through this. And maybe this will help the next person searching for a solution.
I froze touch wiz in Titanium and could not boot. So I went to Google Play on my desktpop and logged in. Then installed "Smart Launcher". I had no idea if it was installing or not but on Google Play on my desktop it said "installed" so i did a battery pull and restarted into Smart Launcher. Then rebooted again to get the prompt which launcher Iwanted to use and I chose "touch wiz" and "don't ask me again"

[Q] Help troubleshooting Google Play freeze after app install

I'd been using FF18 for quite a while without incident, but after upgrading to FI27 (not OTA, via the one-click method), Google Play is hanging the system immediately after successfully downloading and installing any given app. It puts me on the usual page allowing me to open the app, I press open, and wham, the system freezes until it reboots automatically about a minute later. The app that I installed then runs fine.
(In testing this several times, I should mention that one time I actually was able to open an app I just installed, but it hung about 10 seconds in, and the system rebooted as usual. It ran fine after that.)
I've searched around a bit for this and see that I'm hardly the first to encounter this issue. Sometimes it occurs when no recent update has been performed at all. Unfortunately, I haven't really found a solution yet. The best I've seen is to delete the data for Google Play and Download manager, and rebooting, which I've done to no effect. I've also tried uninstalling Google Play, but I think in this case that just leaves me with the same version that I had, the one that came with FI27 (in any case, that didn't help either).
How does one go about troubleshooting this type of problem? I suppose wiping out the phone and starting over would fix it, but I was hoping for more of a surgical rather than nuclear approach. After all, on a PC, you don't reformat when you have a problem with a program.

Have you tried wiping the data for google services framework?
sent from MY BAD A$$ ET4G

patrao_n said:
Have you tried wiping the data for google services framework?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hadn't, but I did just now (there was just over 4MB there), along with a reboot following, and unfortunately it didn't help. Maybe Google Play services too, or something else?

Try deleting data for anything that says google play.
sent from MY BAD A$$ ET4G

You stated you upgraded so I'm assuming you didn't do a fresh install. Even if you did do a fresh install, restoring data & apps from an older version could cause problems. You should try a fresh load and work your way back from there.
Edit: Saw you did the one-click. Still think you should try a full wipe and try it again with a fresh load to see how it goes.

patrao_n said:
Try deleting data for anything that says google play.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've now done that (though one or two had no data), along with the framework one you mentioned earlier, followed by a reboot, but it still happens. Arghh!
tdunham said:
You stated you upgraded so I'm assuming you didn't do a fresh install. Even if you did do a fresh install, restoring data & apps from an older version could cause problems. You should try a fresh load and work your way back from there.
Edit: Saw you did the one-click. Still think you should try a full wipe and try it again with a fresh load to see how it goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I chose the nodata FI27, since it said that it was good for same-version or upgrades (in this case, ICS to ICS), but I will choose the nuke-from-space one if there's no way out of this, though wouldn't just resetting to factory defaults at this point do the same thing?
It's a little bit disturbing that an issue with one app, albeit an important (though not essential) one, can require wiping the phone. If this were to come up again for some reason, maybe just one day out of the blue and not related to putting on a new ROM, it would be nice to know a way out.
Perhaps I can grab a log from somewhere with ADB?

rseiler said:
I've now done that (though one or two had no data), along with the framework one you mentioned earlier, followed by a reboot, but it still happens. Arghh!
Yes, I chose the nodata FI27, since it said that it was good for same-version or upgrades (in this case, ICS to ICS), but I will choose the nuke-from-space one if there's no way out of this, though wouldn't just resetting to factory defaults at this point do the same thing?
It's a little bit disturbing that an issue with one app, albeit an important (though not essential) one, can require wiping the phone. If this were to come up again for some reason, maybe just one day out of the blue and not related to putting on a new ROM, it would be nice to know a way out.
Perhaps I can grab a log from somewhere with ADB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you have a custom kernel with recovery make a backup. Or get one and do it and then do a full wipe and fresh load. That is the only way you'll know for sure.

Yes, I will, but I thought I'd live with it a while to see what I could learn.
I've found that opening the newly-installed app is not the issue: simply installing a new app is. If I wait on the "Open" screen right after an install, and do nothing, within a minute the system will freeze and reboot.
Interestingly, updating apps does not trigger the problem, as numerous apps have updated this week, even one that Google Play wanted me to approve manually. Go figure.
Anyway, I have a logcat of an example in case anyone is interested. In this case, I initiated an install at 15:26, which is when the log begins. It ends shortly after the reboot.
http://tny.cz/0b86937c

[Q] Need advice for flashing GApps onto stock Desire 816t

I got the phone as a gift from my uncle in China, it's working fine except I need google apps. From what I've read here and elsewhere I can download the correct version of GApps for my version of android and simply flash it by saving it going into the SD card and entering recovery mode.
I have some questions:
Is there a specific GApps file for the Desire 816 or can I just use any one such as from team android for 4.4 KitKat?
Will this procedure void warranty and how risky is it?
Should I do a back up of the stock OS? Nandroid requires root access and I don't want to root the phone unnecessarily. Also the methods for system back up without root such as holo backup seem unreliable for some devices. Has anyone done a back up for the Desire 816 with holo/Ultimate Backup Tool?
Device Specifications
Android Version: 4.4.2
HTC Sense 5.5
ROM 1.31.1403.1
Kernel Version: 3.4.0-g77ac3fc
[email protected] # 1
SMP PREEMPT

Chiarro said:
I got the phone as a gift from my uncle in China, it's working fine except I need google apps. From what I've read here and elsewhere I can download the correct version of GApps for my version of android and simply flash it by saving it going into the SD card and entering recovery mode.
I have some questions:
Is there a specific GApps file for the Desire 816 or can I just use any one such as from team android for 4.4 KitKat?
Will this procedure void warranty and how risky is it?
Should I do a back up of the stock OS? Nandroid requires root access and I don't want to root the phone unnecessarily. Also the methods for system back up without root such as holo backup seem unreliable for some devices. Has anyone done a back up for the Desire 816 with holo/Ultimate Backup Tool?
Device Specifications
Android Version: 4.4.2
HTC Sense 5.5
ROM 1.31.1403.1
Kernel Version: 3.4.0-g77ac3fc
[email protected] # 1
SMP PREEMPT
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to install the Gaaps, you should have clockworkmod recovery for sure, which requires unlocking your bootloader and rooting. Once you do that you will loose warranty. But do you really think that you ever claim for warranty ? I have used 11 smart phones so far and never went back to the vendor for any issues. I completely relied on XDA forum and never got disheartened. Anyways, thats your choice, whether to live without google apps in your smartphone until your warranty period expires and live like a king by rooting and installing the gapps? If you choose the later option, then start with unlocking the bootloader, followed by rooting, followed by custom recovery installation and then gaaps zip installation.
Btw, use the gapps from the following link http://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=10238 rather than the one you found that are for cyanogenmod roms.

vbrsekhar said:
If you want to install the Gaaps, you should have clockworkmod recovery for sure, which requires unlocking your bootloader and rooting. Once you do that you will loose warranty. But do you really think that you ever claim for warranty ? I have used 11 smart phones so far and never went back to the vendor for any issues. I completely relied on XDA forum and never got disheartened. Anyways, thats your choice, whether to live without google apps in your smartphone until your warranty period expires and live like a king by rooting and installing the gapps? If you choose the later option, then start with unlocking the bootloader, followed by rooting, followed by custom recovery installation and then gaaps zip installation.
Btw, use the gapps from the following link http://www.androidfilehost.com/?w=files&flid=10238 rather than the one you found that are for cyanogenmod roms.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice. I wound up rooting the phone with Clockwork Recovery Mod. I've tried flashing the gapps-kk-20140606-signed.zip file that you linked, the flashing completes successfully and the phone boots. However as soon as I try to go past the lock screen the error message "Setup wizard has stopped working" is repeated on loop. I did a system restore, tried a package from here to the same effect. I saw a post where someone had a similar issue and did something along the lines of wiping user data and dalvik however for the life of me I can't find it again.
EDIT******
Nevermind, I did a full system restore, wiped Dalvik, Cache, User Data then flashed the modular gapps package I got from the second link I mentioned. I then wiped everything again and started the phone. Went through initial set up and now everything seems fine. Will update if google apps starts playing up.
EDIT # 2
Play store doesn't work properly Will try again in the morning using the package you suggested.

Chiarro said:
Thanks for the advice. I wound up rooting the phone with Clockwork Recovery Mod. I've tried flashing the gapps-kk-20140606-signed.zip file that you linked, the flashing completes successfully and the phone boots. However as soon as I try to go past the lock screen the error message "Setup wizard has stopped working" is repeated on loop. I did a system restore, tried a package from here to the same effect. I saw a post where someone had a similar issue and did something along the lines of wiping user data and dalvik however for the life of me I can't find it again.
EDIT******
Nevermind, I did a full system restore, wiped Dalvik, Cache, User Data then flashed the modular gapps package I got from the second link I mentioned. I then wiped everything again and started the phone. Went through initial set up and now everything seems fine. Will update if google apps starts playing up.
EDIT # 2
Play store doesn't work properly Will try again in the morning using the package you suggested.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry to note the hiccups you are facing dude. I should have told you about setupwizard thingy, which I learnt about it ages ago. My sincere apologies. Flashing gapps on chinese roms will corrupt the existing setup wizard. So the work around for this is to, backup that system apk, using titanium backup or any other popular ones and then reinstall it once the gapps are installed. But now that you confirmed it working, I am now bit relaxed. But yeah so sorry for that.
Re your play store apk, Google has updated his play store apk recently. Try the new version apk from http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...issions-bigger-buttons-and-more-apk-download/ and then go to Apps, playstore and delete data and cache. Wipe dalvik cache (optional) from the recovery and then try if it works. I am sure it should work without having to delete all this caches and data, but yours being chinese version mobile and had troubles before with it, try those tricks.
All the best.

vbrsekhar said:
Sorry to note the hiccups you are facing dude. I should have told you about setupwizard thingy, which I learnt about it ages ago. My sincere apologies. Flashing gapps on chinese roms will corrupt the existing setup wizard. So the work around for this is to, backup that system apk, using titanium backup or any other popular ones and then reinstall it once the gapps are installed. But now that you confirmed it working, I am now bit relaxed. But yeah so sorry for that.
Re your play store apk, Google has updated his play store apk recently. Try the new version apk from http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...issions-bigger-buttons-and-more-apk-download/ and then go to Apps, playstore and delete data and cache. Wipe dalvik cache (optional) from the recovery and then try if it works. I am sure it should work without having to delete all this caches and data, but yours being chinese version mobile and had troubles before with it, try those tricks.
All the best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again, I followed your advice and my apps now seem to be working ok. I think play store is a little unstable still, I occasionally get errors attempting to download apps (Error 904 I think) but those go away if I just restart the download. I had Facebook messenger force close once but that was when it was going through its tutorial mode. It's now also working fine.
Unfortunately this process seems to break the FM Radio app which is a minor blow, attempting to back up and restore with Titanium Backup gives the message "App was not installed". Same applies when restoring setup. I'm not sure if having a corrupt set up wizard will create problems for me in the future.
The only thing I can think of which would cause the problems restoring system apps is that I didn't apply the wp_mod.ko which is recommended as part of this root procedure. That's meant to allow me to write to the system. The instructions for doing so weren't particularly clear and everything else seemed to be working at the time so I skipped it (I know, probably not the best idea).
Any advice would be appreciated, however right now I'm pretty happy with the rest of my phone working with google apps! I'm also investigating whether spiritFM will work as an alternative to the stock radio app.

Chiarro said:
Thanks again, I followed your advice and my apps now seem to be working ok. I think play store is a little unstable still, I occasionally get errors attempting to download apps (Error 904 I think) but those go away if I just restart the download. I had Facebook messenger force close once but that was when it was going through its tutorial mode. It's now also working fine.
Unfortunately this process seems to break the FM Radio app which is a minor blow, attempting to back up and restore with Titanium Backup gives the message "App was not installed". Same applies when restoring setup. I'm not sure if having a corrupt set up wizard will create problems for me in the future.
The only thing I can think of which would cause the problems restoring system apps is that I didn't apply the wp_mod.ko which is recommended as part of this root procedure. That's meant to allow me to write to the system. The instructions for doing so weren't particularly clear and everything else seemed to be working at the time so I skipped it (I know, probably not the best idea).
Any advice would be appreciated, however right now I'm pretty happy with the rest of my phone working with google apps! I'm also investigating whether spiritFM will work as an alternative to the stock radio app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for updating us with your issues. I think by your description, i can see that it could be cache's problem. What I usually do is, when you install any rom via backup, I try to do factory reset twice from the systems setting and security. This will eliminate all the cache issues that you are facing with google play and fmradio. If you cannot restore the factory settings for any reason, I would then try going to settings --> Apps --> find google play app - -> delete the data and clear cache. This will make you to re enter your google account again. Hopefully, your google play should work fine. Apply the same trick to your fmradio too and see if it makes any difference ?
Hit thanks if it works, so that others would learn from your experience and know that this trick worked.

vbrsekhar said:
Thanks for updating us with your issues. I think by your description, i can see that it could be cache's problem. What I usually do is, when you install any rom via backup, I try to do factory reset twice from the systems setting and security. This will eliminate all the cache issues that you are facing with google play and fmradio. If you cannot restore the factory settings for any reason, I would then try going to settings --> Apps --> find google play app - -> delete the data and clear cache. This will make you to re enter your google account again. Hopefully, your google play should work fine. Apply the same trick to your fmradio too and see if it makes any difference ?
Hit thanks if it works, so that others would learn from your experience and know that this trick worked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately it didn't fix the radio. Play store was working though.