Develop Bugs

First things to do when I get my Galaxy Nexus?

I am getting my Galaxy Nexus Tomorrow. This is my first smartphone. I would like to back up the phone completely so that I would have a way to "restore" the phone to it's original state, should I mess something up when I begin to customize the phone. This would also be good if I decide to sell the phone later should the Galaxy Nexus 32GB model become available, I could put the phone back to its original state.
What is the best way to back up my Galaxy Nexus out of the box?
In addition to backing up the phone, what are some other things that you guys do when you first get a new smartphone?

In terms of backing up, simply create a Gmail Account before-hand, or make one right on the device and check all the boxes that say "Backup my data to Google's servers". It will keep all contacts, apps, WiFi passwords, and even your wallpaper backed up (if you want to delete the backup, there's an option in settings as well). If you prefer local backups, there is a way to do that and even encrypt the backups, but I believe you need to be an Google Apps Account holder.

Enjoy your new phone...... Google backs most everything up so you can hit the ground running!! Being your first smartphone you will have plenty of exploring to do!
Danny

You don't need to back it up. There's an option to restore to factory settings which wipes all your data and returns it to out of the box state.
Even if some disaster happens and it won't boot, you can boot into recovery and restore it from there.
And, Even if the sky falls and recovery doesn't boot you can put it into a low level state called fastboot and flash the stock update using your computer!
Don't panic, there isnt anything you can do to take it to an unrecoverable state, unless you root it, and even then the chances are sooooo low.
The first thing i'd say you should do it look into getting a case or pouch (my personal preference). Especially if you're not use to a touch screen phone you'll probably need a bit of time getting use to the idea that it s a little more delicate.
Next, make sure you charge it overnight.
Lastly just play around with the settings and mess around as much as you like. Figure out what you do and don't like settings wise without worrying about returning the settings back. Then restore to factory settings from the settings menu, and set it up properly with everything you learnt from your playing!
EDIT: I read from your post you wanted to backup the phones virgin state, if you meant data backup, the other posters covered that

Wow, this is going to be easier than I thought. Thanks for all of the great replies and suggestions so far. I am really going to enjoy this phone!!!
edit. I tried to thank all of you guys, but I am only allowed 5 thanks a day and I ran out.

Yes, and this is a great smartphone to start with!! The new settings are really user friendly!

First thing to do when you get this beast is admire it, Its truly a fantastic device. Id recommend watchin a few 1080p HD videos on youtube with the screen brightness at 100% you will looovvveee the screen its truly amazing

I ordered the phone this evening. Since it's Sunday tomorrow I suppose it will dispatch on Monday and arrive this Tuesday.
I'll probably give it a go normally for a week or two, before I customise it (in terms of unlocking the bootloader, rooting, and installing custom roms).
What would be the process of customising once I'm ready?
1) Unlock bootloader
2) Install CWM
3) Root device
4) Install custom ROM
Or is there other appropriate steps? Also, when do I take backups? I understand I should back up with CWM or something?
I'm coming from a BB9700 so this will be a big (good) change for me.

darrendm said:
I ordered the phone this evening. Since it's Sunday tomorrow I suppose it will dispatch on Monday and arrive this Tuesday.
I'll probably give it a go normally for a week or two, before I customise it (in terms of unlocking the bootloader, rooting, and installing custom roms).
What would be the process of customising once I'm ready?
1) Unlock bootloader
2) Install CWM
3) Root device
4) Install custom ROM
Or is there other appropriate steps? Also, when do I take backups? I understand I should back up with CWM or something?
I'm coming from a BB9700 so this will be a big (good) change for me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just unlocked the bootloader and rooted and installed CWM right off so I didn't havetoo mess with the unlock deleting anything (backup with CWM). I'm still happy with the stock 4.0 so thats what im running now.

Danny80y said:
I just unlocked the bootloader and rooted and installed CWM right off so I didn't havetoo mess with the unlock deleting anything. I'm still happy with the stock 4.0 so thats what im running now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh right yeah. I will most probably unlock the bootloader first (as soon as the device comes) because that does wipe everything right? Does rooting wipe everything too or can that be done later?

No, root can be flashed whenever you want. I just wanted it all done so when I do flash I have a CWM backup of the stock ROM.

Danny80y said:
No, root can be flashed whenever you want. I just wanted it all done so when I do flash I have a CWM backup of the stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right thanks, and lastly must the phone be rooted for CWM to work?

First thing to do? Patch that damn volume bug If you ever get the patch....

This is the guide I used.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362957 Once you flash root just get Rom Manager from the market when your ready and flash CWM. But thats the easy step so you might as well....lol
---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------
IvanDobskey said:
First thing to do? Patch that damn volume bug If you ever get the patch....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have had issues with it?? I haven't yet.....

Cheers for all the info Danny!

Danny80y said:
This is the guide I used.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1362957 Once you flash root just get Rom Manager from the market when your ready and flash CWM. But thats the easy step so you might as well....lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will this affect the warranty?

it _could_. Basically you can relock and flash back to a stock rom to take it back to how it was. But if your phone melts or something while overclocked with a custom rom, and no longer powers up - so you can't relock/restore) , they could blame the rom and void your warranty.
Having said that there's not much chance of that happening if you're not a developer trying extreme things. And even then the chances of them trying (/being able) to check the lock in that state is unlikely.

For completeness, there's a guide on how to return an i9250 to stock here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1366806
It even provides a dl link to a backup from a phone with the volume bug OTA update.

Frozen backup w/toolkit?

Greetings!
I'm trying to back up my rooted phone so I can un-root and re-lock it before sending it back for replacement. I'm trying to use the wonderful Galaxy Nexus Toolkit to accomplish this, but I'm having a heck of a time doing it.
I got it installed, and everything seemed to be running fine, but now it seems to be stuck with no feedback whatsoever that anything is wrong.
The backup started fine, and it seemed to indicate that some app packages were backing up. Then it got to "com.google.android.apps.maps," and it's been on that for about 30 minutes now.
I assume this means it's stuck, right? What do I do? Like I said, there's no indication that anything is wrong (other than sitting there doing nothing), so I don't know what to do.
Help?

Create a nandroid instead?
Or use the adb method. Both are detailed in the guide in my sig.

Jubakuba said:
Create a nandroid instead?
Or use the adb method. Both are detailed in the guide in my sig.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply!
I thought I was using the adb option in the toolkit. I also tried an backup with CWM, but that didn't back up as much as I thought it would. I was under the impression that it would back up everything, including the apps and their settings, but that does not seem to be the case, as the backup was over in about 30 seconds. The files in the CWM backup folder also only seemed to be ~200MB in size, if that, so I assumed it was just backing up the ROM?
Either way, I just unplugged and tried this again. I think it worked this time. I told it not to include system apps (since those I can get back easily and I don't really care about losing those settings), and that seemed to help. Now I'm working on the sdcard data (because what the heck?).

No, a nandroid backs every setting, app, boot, system, etc.
The only thing it doesn't back up is your SDCard.
If you're using the newest CWM, ,the backup in the backup folded will be small and it won't take much time.
The majority of the files are held in the blobs folder.

Jubakuba said:
No, a nandroid backs every setting, app, boot, system, etc.
The only thing it doesn't back up is your SDCard.
If you're using the newest CWM, ,the backup in the backup folded will be small and it won't take much time.
The majority of the files are held in the blobs folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks! I'm going to be safe and do that in addition to the Toolkit.

[Q] Advice on backup and rooting

First post and I have to say great forum here and lots of great information!!
I am a long time unix / linux user and work in the technology product development and I have been researching for about a week after updating to official ICS over Kies for information on backuping up my phone and rooting.
I had considered rooting before but never had a good reason really until I loaded the official ICS update and had to reset to get it working, losing all my apps / data. Kies was not cooperating so I did not get a good backup and it would not keep my app settings any way. This is when I found out that my old Blackberry and even iPhone had much more complete backup solutions that non-rooted Android. I have totally recovered the other devices without losing anything in the past so I thought Android would be a snap as well.
Any way to the point now. After searching I have found great work done by the members and I feel pretty comfortable proceeding to root my stock ICS and getting Titanium to do a full backup. I will fix my keyboard and few other things while at it.
My questions are:
1. When the next official release comes from ATT / Samsung will I have to reflash to the stock boot.img (found in another thread) to be able to get the upgrade and then root my phone again?
2. Once rooted, is it better to just come back here and get the updated ROM and flash manually?
3. Is the best way to achieve the complete backup solution I am looking for?
I am pretty happy with the stock ROMs but I want to be able to get a good and full backup going forward since it takes so long to reinstall everything. I could even live with the bloatware if I was confident I could completely restore at anytime.
Thanks in advance for any advice.
Roy

Titanium is good for backing up apps and data. If you want a complete back up, you'll want to make a nandroid backup with CWMR. As for the ROM part, it all depends on if you're happy with what you get stock or if you like customized things. I'm sick right now or I would go into detail.
sent from my captivate glide running ICS (NardROM 0.4 Rooted)

Shawn said:
Titanium is good for backing up apps and data. If you want a complete back up, you'll want to make a nandroid backup with CWMR. As for the ROM part, it all depends on if you're happy with what you get stock or if you like customized things. I'm sick right now or I would go into detail.
sent from my captivate glide running ICS (NardROM 0.4 Rooted)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Shawn. I saw a reference to nandroid but did not realize it was part of CWMR. Can I assume if I get CWMR loaded I will be able to backup my current apps / settings or will that just set me up for the next time? I have been sort of assuming once I get CWMR loaded and get root that I may lose my current settings.
Appreciate the reply especially while sick! Hope you feel better soon.

VideoRoy said:
Thanks Shawn. I saw a reference to nandroid but did not realize it was part of CWMR. Can I assume if I get CWMR loaded I will be able to backup my current apps / settings or will that just set me up for the next time? I have been sort of assuming once I get CWMR loaded and get root that I may lose my current settings.
Appreciate the reply especially while sick! Hope you feel better soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A nandroid backup is more like an image backup of the flash, so you would have to restore the whole thing to get back any files you may have lost. It's mostly for backing up prior to flashing a new ROM, so if you don't like it you can go back to what you had easily.
If you want to back up pictures and things like that you should be able to plug the phone into a computer and mount the flash as a drive (I've done this on my Linux and Windows systems many times). Then you can copy the files you want to save to your computer, or copy a new ROM to the phone so you can flash it with CWMR.

You're welcome. Nandroid backups are for when your phone bootloops or is "bricked" or if you want to restore to something previous. For me, I use Titanium to backup all app data before flashing something and then make a Nandroid with CWMR. In my opinion its a good idea to use both so you're safe from any problems down the road.
sent from my captivate glide running ICS (NardROM 0.4 Rooted)

Shawn said:
You're welcome. Nandroid backups are for when your phone bootloops or is "bricked" or if you want to restore to something previous. For me, I use Titanium to backup all app data before flashing something and then make a Nandroid with CWMR. In my opinion its a good idea to use both so you're safe from any problems down the road.
sent from my captivate glide running ICS (NardROM 0.4 Rooted)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mvi57 and Shawn,
Thanks guys, got it now. I will probably do both types of backups as well.
I think I understand the system a little better now. The recovery partition probably does not affect the bootloader or ROM so if I just replace it with CWMR I still boot the same and will not lose my current data. I am guessing the next official ROM will probably load fine but I would probably just have to root the phone again.
Thanks for putting up with the noob questions. I have not done embedded development before but some of the guys on team have so I have some terminology i need to get used to.

VideoRoy said:
mvi57 and Shawn,
Thanks guys, got it now. I will probably do both types of backups as well.
I think I understand the system a little better now. The recovery partition probably does not affect the bootloader or ROM so if I just replace it with CWMR I still boot the same and will not lose my current data. I am guessing the next official ROM will probably load fine but I would probably just have to root the phone again.
Thanks for putting up with the noob questions. I have not done embedded development before but some of the guys on team have so I have some terminology i need to get used to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will need to root again once you update. Replacing stock recovery with CWMR will not make you lose any data.
sent from my captivate glide running ICS (NardROM 0.4 Rooted)

VideoRoy said:
First post and I have to say great forum here and lots of great information!!
I am a long time unix / linux user and work in the technology product development and I have been researching for about a week after updating to official ICS over Kies for information on backuping up my phone and rooting.
I had considered rooting before but never had a good reason really until I loaded the official ICS update and had to reset to get it working, losing all my apps / data. Kies was not cooperating so I did not get a good backup and it would not keep my app settings any way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a hard lesson to learn that there were relatively easy solutions to avoid it :/ I as a fellow long time Linux user, I'm suprised!. I myself can not stand not having root access when I need it. I luckily have had Titanium Backup for quite some time now and it IS a life saver for many of your apps and settings! It's a must! I too had the issue of not being able to update via kies and assumed it was because my device was rooted, so in my frustrated lack of sleep mood I had going, I said meh all and grabbed easily accessible data off the memory and flashed the ICS from sammobile.com if i remember right. I've since flashed NardRom as well and am having some signal/sms issues. That being said, MAKE SURE you do a nandroid backup and don't get all anxious and overzealous like I did. If I am not mistaken and understand correctly, sometimes when flashing roms you may overwrite various signal related files like the modem or wireless? With a nandroid backup you can simply restore from that like nothing ever happened! Just follow directions to the T. I've yet to brick my SGH-i927 but I've bricked our captivates a few times

ZeroHour064 said:
It's a hard lesson to learn that there were relatively easy solutions to avoid it :/ I as a fellow long time Linux user, I'm suprised!. I myself can not stand not having root access when I need it. I luckily have had Titanium Backup for quite some time now and it IS a life saver for many of your apps and settings! It's a must! I too had the issue of not being able to update via kies and assumed it was because my device was rooted, so in my frustrated lack of sleep mood I had going, I said meh all and grabbed easily accessible data off the memory and flashed the ICS from sammobile.com if i remember right. I've since flashed NardRom as well and am having some signal/sms issues. That being said, MAKE SURE you do a nandroid backup and don't get all anxious and overzealous like I did. If I am not mistaken and understand correctly, sometimes when flashing roms you may overwrite various signal related files like the modem or wireless? With a nandroid backup you can simply restore from that like nothing ever happened! Just follow directions to the T. I've yet to brick my SGH-i927 but I've bricked our captivates a few times
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am with you all the way.
I have installed CWMR now and completed a nandroid backup. After tracking down the backup I copied to my laptop for safe keeping. Also installed the keyboard fix only and it worked fine. Later tonight I will give root a try with Titanium.
BTW I was having SMS issues with the stock ICS. No alerts and basic funky things. I have loaded Go SMS Pro and am happier not only fixing the app issues but giving me Group text mode so I am not an outcast with the rest of my iPhone family
Thanks for helping me get going here.

ICS has a bunch of issues, including the bad notifications.
sent from my captivate glide running ICS (NardROM 0.4 Rooted)

As others have posted. I back up all my information per app via Titanium backup and every few months I make a new Nandroid backup. This gives me the best of both worlds. A full backup that I can get back to via Nandroid backup and little backups from Titanium backup if I choose to uninstall and re-install an individual app later on in the future.

Just a few other tips from my recent experiences. Since the problems I was having with NardROM... an entire night with no text msgs from my ole lady got me pretty worried and I learned it was issues with my flash or the rom with my phone so I wiped it out and went back to the stock ICS. I also flashed the keyboard fix and have noticed no problems. I did flash the tether fix too but it's not working for me at the moment so I'll play with it later. I'm also using my regular Captivate as a secondary phone/toy using google voice and wireless so if I'm not getting anything on one # during testing or usage I will notice it and get it on the other phone.
Also, as a long time GOSMS user I like to try out the various features but I must warn you stay away from, or have a backup plan on top of it, if you purchase the 180-day premium features and utilize the local backup. I'm not fond of having things backed up to a cloud so like you I back up all my phone stuff to my server and desktops at home but running raid 5 (paranoid much?). The problem I had is when I restored all my text from the cloud after a flash and noticed the new local backup feature in a GOSMS update I thought hey i can do away with the cloud and use this right!? Wrong. I deleted the cloud backup without double checking and on this last flash, attempted to restore roughly 20k+ messages from the Gosms local backup feature and it errored out or froze the phone EVERY time I tried. Frantically searching through everything I had, I learned that Titanium Backup does do a backup typically of the related data, I beleive the listed backup is SMS/APN/MMS or something similar. You have to enable writing to /system in Titanium's settings. There's a howto on xda I beleive and google searches on restoring it. Another thing, if you have numerous backups and are playing around and i.e. have just flashed, installed Titaniumbackup and want to backup something before you restore it from an older version, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CHANGED MAX # of BACKUPS FIRST, otherwise you have just overwritten your previous backup :crying:
*Correction* I'm using jayjayjoker2's debloated ICS 4.0.4 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1843001

ZeroHour064 said:
Just a few other tips from my recent experiences. Since the problems I was having with NardROM... an entire night with no text msgs from my ole lady got me pretty worried and I learned it was issues with my flash or the rom with my phone so I wiped it out and went back to the stock ICS. I also flashed the keyboard fix and have noticed no problems. I did flash the tether fix too but it's not working for me at the moment so I'll play with it later. I'm also using my regular Captivate as a secondary phone/toy using google voice and wireless so if I'm not getting anything on one # during testing or usage I will notice it and get it on the other phone.
Also, as a long time GOSMS user I like to try out the various features but I must warn you stay away from, or have a backup plan on top of it, if you purchase the 180-day premium features and utilize the local backup. I'm not fond of having things backed up to a cloud so like you I back up all my phone stuff to my server and desktops at home but running raid 5 (paranoid much?). The problem I had is when I restored all my text from the cloud after a flash and noticed the new local backup feature in a GOSMS update I thought hey i can do away with the cloud and use this right!? Wrong. I deleted the cloud backup without double checking and on this last flash, attempted to restore roughly 20k+ messages from the Gosms local backup feature and it errored out or froze the phone EVERY time I tried. Frantically searching through everything I had, I learned that Titanium Backup does do a backup typically of the related data, I beleive the listed backup is SMS/APN/MMS or something similar. You have to enable writing to /system in Titanium's settings. There's a howto on xda I beleive and google searches on restoring it. Another thing, if you have numerous backups and are playing around and i.e. have just flashed, installed Titaniumbackup and want to backup something before you restore it from an older version, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE CHANGED MAX # of BACKUPS FIRST, otherwise you have just overwritten your previous backup :crying:
*Correction* I'm using jayjayjoker2's debloated ICS 4.0.4 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1843001
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great information thanks!!
The backups I am most worried about are all the system settings, app settings and data mostly. I am probably older than most folks here and I do not really text much except family and a few co-workers. I honestly never worried about backing up my SMS / MMS but I will check on my APNs because I had that problem on a Blackberry once. Email is where I store most important stuff and talk about paranoid I have multiple copies of my emails on different computers on different operating systems. 20 years working in storage will do that to you
I believe that if Google or Samsung even came up with a backup solution that did what Blackberry or Apple could do it would solve a lot and I probably would not even be working on this. Blackberry saved my bacon more than once with the complete backup they do in their clunky software and last year when my daughters iPhone would no longer power off, I was able to use iTunes to do a complete backup and she was up and running on a new phone in 15 mins exactly where she left off.
Thanks for the advice!

Phone keeps rebooting randomly, is that normal?

Hi guys. I have the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 UK non LTW version. For some reason over the last 2 days, it's reset itself twice and gone to the Samsung black screen. No reason for it. I haven't installed anything in the last couple of days. I'm wondering whether the odd random reset is normal or should I get onto Three(3) to supply my with a replacement device?
Also, I used to be an iphone user (shudders) and one of the best things was the fact that you could back the phone up and if you needed a replacement, it would be like having your phone again with a new shell. Is there anything like this for Android? Installing 50odd apps again and changing settings on a new device will be a right pain in the arse.
Cheers for the help

30secondstosam said:
Hi guys. I have the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 UK non LTW version. For some reason over the last 2 days, it's reset itself twice and gone to the Samsung black screen. No reason for it. I haven't installed anything in the last couple of days. I'm wondering whether the odd random reset is normal or should I get onto Three(3) to supply my with a replacement device?
Also, I used to be an iphone user (shudders) and one of the best things was the fact that you could back the phone up and if you needed a replacement, it would be like having your phone again with a new shell. Is there anything like this for Android? Installing 50odd apps again and changing settings on a new device will be a right pain in the arse.
Cheers for the help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are rooted you can backup user apps and settings with Titanium Backup or make a nandroid (CWM) backup. If you are not rooted you can use an app like AppMonster to backup apps (but no data i`am afraid).
So make a backup and save important files to the pc and do a data/factory reset in backup and restore. If that doesn`t help you might reflash the rom with Odinv3 3.04. Good luck mate

gee2012 said:
If you are rooted you can backup user apps and settings with Titanium Backup or make a nandroid (CWM) backup. If you are not rooted you can use an app like AppMonster to backup apps (but no data i`am afraid).
So make a backup and save important files to the pc and do a data/factory reset in backup and restore. If that doesn`t help you might reflash the rom with Odinv3 3.04. Good luck mate
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks pal. Shame about the lack of data backup.
Quick question – By rooting it, will I be on Android 5.0 quicker than if I didn't root? And will I lose functionality? Just weighing up the pros and cons now

30secondstosam said:
Thanks pal. Shame about the lack of data backup.
Quick question – By rooting it, will I be on Android 5.0 quicker than if I didn't root? And will I lose functionality? Just weighing up the pros and cons now
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting will not limit functionality in regards to Samsung apps and will add a lot of extra goodies, and yes if you are rooted you will get quicker upgrades (custom rom`s and leaked stock versions). We are allready running 4.1.2

So I don't use the stylus functionality?? That's cool. Tempted to root...

do you have amazon appstore? mine started doing this too. it may be coincidence...but it always happens when i get a notification saying amazon store has an update available.

xwingkiller said:
do you have amazon appstore? mine started doing this too. it may be coincidence...but it always happens when i get a notification saying amazon store has an update available.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nahh I don't. I'm trying to figure out what i've installed recently that could have caused it!

gee2012 said:
Rooting will not limit functionality in regards to Samsung apps and will add a lot of extra goodies, and yes if you are rooted you will get quicker upgrades (custom rom`s and leaked stock versions). We are allready running 4.1.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What's the best ROM then ?

[Q] Unroot and Restore Personal Data

I need to unroot my phone. Since I've rooted, the vibration motor only works sproadically. I have had hardware repair people check it out and it isn't the part itself, so they suggested I take it back to the provider to see what the problem is. Obviously, the provider won't touch it if it's rooted.
There's all kinds of directions online about how to restore to factory. My problem is that this is a phone I also use for work and so contacts, app data, calendar, etc. etc. will all need to be restored. However, the conundrum is that there aren't any backup apps that can backup the app and the app data and/or restore same without root. So even though I have used Titanium Backup to backup my apps/data, I wont be able to restore after unrooting.
FYI my phone is AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note II SGH-I317, rooted but no custom rom (still stock).
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Some have suggested I learn to live without the vibration, but there are many times I need my phone in silent mode but need to have the vibration on so I am alerted to incoming calls/appointments/texts/alerts.
Thanks,

Why do you say TiBu won't do the job? You can restore user apps and their data 100%; you can also restore phone and sms logs. Just don't restore system data.
Move your personal data to the external sd card.
Besides unrooting you have to restore the binary count to zero using triangle away app.

rangercaptain said:
Why do you say TiBu won't do the job? You can restore user apps and their data 100%; you can also restore phone and sms logs. Just don't restore system data.
Move your personal data to the external sd card.
Besides unrooting you have to restore the binary count to zero using triangle away app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My understanding is that TiBU cannot restore apps/data unless the phone is rooted. If there's a way to do it without the phone being rooted, please let me know.
How do I "move my personal data to the external sd card?' and do I do that before or after restoring the factory firmware?
I've restored the binary count using triangle away. Will I need to do this again after restoring the factory firmware?
Obviously I'm a less sophisticated user. TBH I only rooted to get rid of the bloatware, I never had any intention of making any other changes (nor do I really have the skill/knowledge to do so). If there's a way to get this accomplished, I'd really appreciate some instructions. All the threads I've read have a bunch of technical language that I really don't understand.
Thanks for your help...

You make a zip file of your apps and data, then you use the stock recovery to flash. You name it update.zip.

rangercaptain said:
You make a zip file of your apps and data, then you use the stock recovery to flash. You name it update.zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a thread I could read which would give me step by step directions to do this. Thank you so much for your help.

Question: can you make a nandroid backup, unroot, factory reset, triangle away, send phone for repair, when phone returns, root, restore the nandroid?
Im sure you dont want to send your phone with personal stuff on it.

rangercaptain said:
Question: can you make a nandroid backup, unroot, factory reset, triangle away, send phone for repair, when phone returns, root, restore the nandroid?
Im sure you dont want to send your phone with personal stuff on it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm sure that this would be an acceptable method. Is nandroid backup something that can be done via TiBu? If not, could you point me to a thread that would have instructions on how to do this.
As always, thank you for your help!

A nandroid backup is an image of your system. You mske it using recovery. So, did you install a custom recovery?

Thanks
I guess this is what I get for going on a developers' forum, and not being a developer myself. After trying to do nandroid backups and restores, I have successfully bricked my phone. Even the person who developed the toolkit won't answer my posts to his website. So I guess my best solution is to get a new phone and never come back to these forums, because I'm clearly in over my head, and no one here can answer the questions of a simpleton like me. Sorry I ever tried to do anything on my phone. Clearly the only thing I've accomplished is to waste my time, ruin my device, and bug people on this forum with my inane inability to comprehend the concepts you guys understand here. Arriva dirce!

tapxda said:
I guess this is what I get for going on a developers' forum, and not being a developer myself. After trying to do nandroid backups and restores, I have successfully bricked my phone. Even the person who developed the toolkit won't answer my posts to his website. So I guess my best solution is to get a new phone and never come back to these forums, because I'm clearly in over my head, and no one here can answer the questions of a simpleton like me. Sorry I ever tried to do anything on my phone. Clearly the only thing I've accomplished is to waste my time, ruin my device, and bug people on this forum with my inane inability to comprehend the concepts you guys understand here. Arriva dirce!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
'X''xxx''''''''
Not sure what the heck I typed here. ..
Try sending a PM to myself or rangercaptain if you want to still try fixing your phone
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

I wasn't bothered by your questions. I like helping other xda'ers solve their problems. Sorry someone somewhere else offended you.
If there is any activity at all when you press the power button you have a great chance of restoring your phone.