Develop Bugs

ROM Hopping

I want to play with different ROMs (i.e., Cyanogen 7.x, Kingdom and other leaked stock ROMs) but I would like to backup and restore my apps+data for use between the ROMS *AND* have my current stock ROM (yes, its rooted) imaged/ghost'd so I can clone back to it if I don't like the other ROMs (like Ghost, DriveImage, ShadowProtect does for PCs). Is this possible? If so, how?

It's built into recoveries. It's called a nandroid backup. I switch betweek MikFroyo and CyanogenMod7 by using recoveries. If you've rooted your phone you should already know how to do it

To back up your current rom:
reboot into recovery
wipe cache/dalvik (trust me, it's faster that way)
select backup
select nandroid backup (not restore)
it'll give you a list of options to select. Select all but the last 2. (which is like android.secure and your sd card. don't need backups for that)
select "perform backup".
Be patient, it takes several minutes to perform the backup. This will back up your rom as it is right now. After that reboot, use your favorite file manager, go into the nandroid folder and rename that nandroid backup to whatever you want (remember NO SPACES IN THE NAME or it WON'T WORK. Don't name it MikFroyo 4.61, name it MikFroyo_4.61, for example). Then, no matter what, you can restore to how your rom is at the very moment you saved it.
If you wanna just back up apps, get "titanium backup" from the market and back up all your apps. Then you can restore just the apps to whatever rom you flash.
Any flashaholics have nandroid backups and titanium backups.
I flash back and forth between Virus 2.1 Sense, the gingerbread w/sense leak and mikfroyo 4.61 and have nandroids for all three. Can't wait for Kingdom to be officially released (3.0 and 4g? sign me the hell up!)
Hope this helps. Us flashaholics gotta stick together.

To add to what AbsolutZeroGI stated, I would recommend, being this is your first time making backups and we don't know how your SD card is partitioned, that you select to backup your boot, data, system, android.secure, sdext and wimax.For all other backups, just use the default options. If your recovery is amon RA, the aforementioned options are clearly seen, bit I'm not sure about ClockworkMod. It's been too long since I last used it.
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.

dougjamal said:
To add to what AbsolutZeroGI stated, I would recommend, being this is your first time making backups and we don't know how your SD card is partitioned, that you select to backup your boot, data, system, android.secure, sdext and wimax.For all other backups, just use the default options. If your recovery is amon RA, the aforementioned options are clearly seen, bit I'm not sure about ClockworkMod. It's been too long since I last used it.
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.
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I don't think how the sd card is formatted matters. I formatted mine for virus 2.1 sense B3 and my mikfroyo and stock still work perfectly. It says to back up the sd card on the computer before you format and put it back after you're done.
Not saying you're wrong, but a backup with .secure and sdext takes FOREVER (like half an hour the last time I tried it, maybe longer) and it's not really necessary.

AbsolutZeroGI said:
...
Not saying you're wrong, but a backup with .secure and sdext takes FOREVER (like half an hour the last time I tried it, maybe longer) and it's not really necessary.
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Click to collapse
I respectfully disagree. Before making a backup, I always wipe cache & dalvik and when I had all of my apps on the sdext partition, the backup was maybe a minute longer than using the default settings. Furthermore, a few of my apps are on android,secure and the backup time is the same. At least that has been my experience....
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.

dougjamal said:
I respectfully disagree. Before making a backup, I always wipe cache & dalvik and when I had all of my apps on the sdext partition, the backup was maybe a minute longer than using the default settings. Furthermore, a few of my apps are on android,secure and the backup time is the same. At least that has been my experience....
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.
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I'd have to agree. When I backup my android secure it only takes about a minute or 2 extra than the regular settings...never a half and hours..that's just ludicrous.

Rats! I was hoping I could just dd this ***** and be done with it.
What's this .secure, android.secure and sdext business? I was picking up what y'all were putting down until y'all mentioned that stuff (I've yet to come across that stuff in my nandroid'n/rooting/ROM'n adventures so far).

Also if you backup your apps using Titanium Backup, make sure when you restore you are not restoring and system apps from a Sense Rom to an AOSP Rom or vice verse. I will throw your phone into a Bootloop more than likely and you will have to restore your backup and start all over.

DiGiTY said:
Rats! I was hoping I could just dd this ***** and be done with it.
What's this .secure, android.secure and sdext business? I was picking up what y'all were putting down until y'all mentioned that stuff (I've yet to come across that stuff in my nandroid'n/rooting/ROM'n adventures so far).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you go into recovery to create a nandroid backup using amon RA, System, Data and Boot are selected by default to be backed up. Most of the time, that is all that is required and all you have to do is initiate the backup. However, some people's device is setup a little differently and to prevent their devices from bootlooping at the rom's splash screen, they have to select sdext and/or android.secure to also be backed up when creating a nandroid backup. Both are where certain apps are sometimes stored.
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.

dougjamal said:
When you go into recovery to create a nandroid backup using amon RA, System, Data and Boot are selected by default to be backed up. Most of the time, that is all that is required and all you have to do is initiate the backup. However, some people's device is setup a little differently and to prevent their devices from bootlooping at the rom's splash screen, they have to select sdext and/or android.secure to also be backed up when creating a nandroid backup. Both are where certain apps are sometimes stored.
posting & replying via the XDA Premium app.
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Got it! Thanks! Is the WiMAX radio stuff included in all that too or is that a different procedure?

DiGiTY said:
Got it! Thanks! Is the WiMAX radio stuff included in all that too or is that a different procedure?
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There's an adb way to pull and copy the wimax image, but if you mount the phone to the pc, copy the wimax to the pc and have an extra copy.
If you're on clockwork recovery, the wimax is already in the backup. If you're on amon_ra 2.3, you'll need to make a backup of it specifically.

teh roxxorz said:
There's an adb way to pull and copy the wimax image, but if you mount the phone to the pc, copy the wimax to the pc and have an extra copy.
If you're on clockwork recovery, the wimax is already in the backup. If you're on amon_ra 2.3, you'll need to make a backup of it specifically.
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Thanks a lot!

DiGiTY said:
Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
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Whippin' out that 444! Lol...
And you're welcome.

[Q] Rom backups and restore...

Hi folks... I'm fairly new to flashing ROM's (i know how to flash them and such) but I have a question about backups and restores of roms....I have searched and just dont see the exact wording im looking for.
Ok, So, I have clockwork, and rom manager and have done a backup of my rom.
Here is my question that isnt quite so clear to me.
When I flash a new rom, or say update one that I have where you have to wipe everything.... are these backups here to restore all of your programs and such to where you dont have to go back in and re-download everything when you have a new fresh rom installed.
Id love to try out a bunch of roms.. but I just hate having to go and re-download all of my programs each time I put a new one on... if that is how it has to be then so be it...
I just dont really know exactly what the backups im doing are for, or what they do.
Thanks for your help.

When I flash a new rom, or say update one that I have where you have to wipe everything.... are these backups here to restore all of your programs and such to where you dont have to go back in and re-download everything when you have a new fresh rom installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Somewhat. A nandroid backup is a COMPLETE backup of your entire phone at the point you make the backup. All your apps, calls, texts, etc will be exactly like you made the backup. That's the beauty of nandroid backups, you can make one, try a new rom, and if you dont like it, restore your backup and there is no hassle re-installing apps and changing settings.
However, when you install a new rom, you have to wipe everything. So when flashing a new rom, you will not have anything, you will have to re-install your programs.

There are backup programs that will allow you to backup before a wipe and flash when installing a new ROM. You can then restore the user apps and data. You can also restore SOME system data but you have to be careful and it may be a trial and error process when restoring.
I use Titanium Backup. Some people also use MyBackup Root. I found that when I restored some of my apps with MyBackup they would Force Close when I tried to run them after a restore. That has not been the case with Titanium.
I have Titanium set to restore the apps to the original location. That way my apps restore to internal (DATA) or the the SD Card depending on where they were originally installed.
My process when I flash a new ROM:
- Backup all user apps + Data and System Data with Titanium.
- Nandroid Backup using Amon_RA
- Wipe System, Data, Dalvik and Cache
- Flash the ROM
- Reboot
- Create google account, etc.
- Install Titanium from the market.
- Restore user apps + data using titanium
You can also restore some system data. Depending on the ROM (and how different it was from the original) that can cause problems. If that happens go back to wipe and reflash the ROM again without restoring the system data.
I have had no problems restoring things like my SMS Messages and Call Logs. You can get into problems when you start restoring things like system settings or HTC Sense settings, etc.

Thank you both for the replies. This is exactly what i needed to know. I hope this thread helps others with similar questions.

There is one thing. CWM and ROM Manager have a history of not being reliable with backups.
Your best bet is to get Amon Ra and use that to make Nandroids.
4 I always have on my phone are my Stock/Rooted, my last ROM I was on, fully setup, my Current ROM, basic, before I restore and programs or apps/data, and my current ROM all setup.
If I flash a new ROM, I can just delete my older complete setup.

TWRP Backup and Restore

I have Titanium backup, but noticed that TWRP also provides a backup and restore. I think I've restored all of my apps by restoring the "data" after a ROM install (at least that's what it appears to have happened). Can anyone verify or is there another partition/folder that I should backup as well for app restoration.
Separate question - I know many people favor Titanium backup - but has anyone started using TWRP for their backup/restores?

using TWRP to restore data is the same as restoring data with CWM
TiBu lets you pick what you want to restore, which is why its preferred. also, if i remember correctly, restoring data with twrp/cwm restores system data, which is bad.

I think you are confusing an app that has backup functions (TiBu) with a recovery, which does Nandroid backups (TWRP).

I'm not confusing them. TWRP backs up data, system, cache...etc. Titanium backs up specific apps. I understand that difference, but if I want to back up all my apps, I just back up my data and restore after I flash the new ROM. It's worked so far.....and I don't have to keep reinstalling Titanium every time.
EDIT: So I guess that's my question - if I want to backup my apps and settings, would I be missing anything to just restore "data"?

BTW I have been using my data backup in TWRP after flashing ROMs and it works flawlessly.....all my apps are there.....in case anyone is interested. Currently running ParanoidAndroid.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

You probably shouldn't be just restoring /data when you flash a new ROM. In addition to your apps, /data also contains your system settings which may not be compatible with all ROMs. Flashing custom ROMs is not for the lazy, just use Titanium if you need to restore your apps.

Open Titanium Backup. Go to option>>Batch Actions.
Here you can backup all the apps(system,user system+user) including data on a single click.. And this process is totally safe. Just you have to install Titanium backup manually after installing new ROM. then it will restore all your apps with the data on a single click.

Restore S3 to standard custom ROM

Hey guys,
After flashing to 4.2.2 and then reverting back to 4.2.1, my file structure is completely screwed up. If I do a wipe, will I be left with a clean file system and my base custom ROM and updated radio?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

llcooljayce said:
Hey guys,
After flashing to 4.2.2 and then reverting back to 4.2.1, my file structure is completely screwed up. If I do a wipe, will I be left with a clean file system and my base custom ROM and updated radio?
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Okay I'm not super familiar with the S3 yet because I just got it last week, but I'll give you a generic answer. First if you have a backup you should be in really good shape. Basically wipe everything in recovery (system, cache, and davlik). I always do it three times because this was the standard since the g1 just to be safe. Then after that you should be able to just revert back to your backup on 4.2.1. As far as the radio goes if you installed a custom (unless things are different with the S3) you have to reflash the original radio you were using. The radio should have nothing to do with it messing up the file system though. Finally after you revert back make sure you do not restore system data with titanium, only apps If you restore any system data you risk conflicts happening. There are a couple of exceptions to this like bluetooth pairings, but I would do these one at a time if you really want to restore them via titanium. If your file structure is still screwy after that, post back here exactly what is screwy.

spursrchamps2007 said:
Okay I'm not super familiar with the S3 yet because I just got it last week, but I'll give you a generic answer. First if you have a backup you should be in really good shape. Basically wipe everything in recovery (system, cache, and davlik). I always do it three times because this was the standard since the g1 just to be safe. Then after that you should be able to just revert back to your backup on 4.2.1. As far as the radio goes if you installed a custom (unless things are different with the S3) you have to reflash the original radio you were using. The radio should have nothing to do with it messing up the file system though. Finally after you revert back make sure you do not restore system data with titanium, only apps If you restore any system data you risk conflicts happening. There are a couple of exceptions to this like bluetooth pairings, but I would do these one at a time if you really want to restore them via titanium. If your file structure is still screwy after that, post back here exactly what is screwy.
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Click to collapse
Be careful wiping since it might wipe the backup data. Done it before and could not restore because it was deleted. Make sure all backups are in the external SD card.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

I actually want to erase all my files and file structure. Will the format even erase the content on SD?
I keep running out of file space and it's because of the 0 folder (created because of 4.2.2 and the introduction of separate log ins)
I basically want to start over but don't want to go through getting root or flashing my ROM)
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2

Make a backup of the contents of your sdcard.
Go into /data/media, and delete the "0", "legacy", and "obb" folders (back them up first). No reason to format anything. You can't see these from your computer. Needs to be done from the phone.
/data/media/0
/data/media/legacy
/data/media/obb (may not exist)
What you are left with is an intact 4.1.x file structure with no redundancy.

[Q] What to backup&restore when wipe-ing?

Ok, so i have flashed quite a number of ROMs over the years, but I still have doubts how to backup & restore things when I have to wipe the phone before flashing a new ROM:
Is there an official list, or maybe a "one click does it all" solution to this?
- after a factory reset, the welcome screen asks about using google's backup services for settings, apps and such. What is actually included in this? How does google know that the re-flashed phone is the 'same' one as the one before the flash?
- In case of CM: the location of various external folders moves around once in a while (sd-ext). So how do I backup and restore this?
- after flashing, sometimes I lost data that the apps stored (highscores, settings, etc), sometimes i havent.
- are there special things to consider when backing up from e.g. a JellyBean ROM, and restoring to a ICS ROM?
in short: what is a completly fool-proof way to backup everything needed, so that i could completely reset my phone (formatting SD card and all), and then restore it after flashing?

I use titanium backup to restore most of my stuff.you do breed to be mindful of what you restore as you are best served by doing reinstall of most system type apps.
Titanium supports cloud based backup on dropbox.
Sent from my SGH-I927 using xda app-developers app