I have a GSM Nexus 4.1.1 rooted using my Mac and it's running the XenonHD rom. I rooted a while ago and do not really remember the nuances of it.
I would like to flash a new rom that includes the enhancements of 4.2 but obviously want to keep all my texts, music, programs, settings, etc. I have read around but need some definitive answers on steps to take to flash a new rom but keep my phone entirely intact. I also remember having problems with the google apps when I first rooted and flashed, and would love to avoid that.
Any advice would be appreciated, and my apologies if this appears to be redundant. I am just not very good with technology and would prefer to have all the facts pertinent to my situation beforehand. Thanks!
First of all - make a nandroid backup through your recovery menu. That way, if things go bad, you can flash your backup.
To backup messages, application data, programs etc, I'd recommend using Titanium Backup Pro. Its a few bucks but if you flash often, its money well spent for sure.
Remember though, that when you flash a new ROM, restoring all your apps and settings from a previous ROM can cause problems. I would recommend backing up messages and non-system application data only. You can restore apps through the play store and then use titanium backup to restore the data for the app.
Depending on the ROM you install - you may have to install the gapps separately. See the ROM thread for details on that.
Lastly, if going to a 4.2 ROM, make sure you have updated your recovery as there can be some SD card issues otherwise.
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Dear All
Having a rooted Desire with Froyo and Apps2SD+, i needed to migrate to a bigger 16 GB card. In that (failed) effort I decided to remove all apps and then restore them.
I backed them up via MybAckup Pro and Titanium Backup. Then, after reboot, no backups were detected by TB. I even wrote to the support but no answer. I had to revert to MyBackup Pro which apparently had a mind of its own regarding which apps to restore. Now Google Maps is missing on my phone and neither will it install. Also, com.gapps are closing on me every minute.
I have decided to do a factory reset but it'd be nice if a few questions are answered first:
1) I understand that NANDROID is the best way to back up; however, it doesn't provide me a way to restore apps one by one or in batches. Any solutions?
2) When I do a factory reset, will I end up with a clean phone with root and my current custom ROM, or the phone as it came from Orange?
3) Is there a way to install Google Maps and to remove the gapps errors without factory reset?
4) If I restore from NANDROID after factory reset, will all the errors/instability come back as well?
Thanks
1) Nandroid does an image of your custom phone, like for example Norton Ghost would do. Its like saving the setup/state of the phone at the time you do the backup.
2) A factory reset deletes all user data. You end with your current ROM as it was a clean install, it will not change the ROM you're using. If you're using a custom ROM you will still be with that custom ROM.
3) Can't Google Maps be downloaded from Market? Also you can try to extract the .apk from a ROM and copy it to yours via adb for example. As for the errors I dont really know if they're because data corruption and a reset will fix them or its the apk that isnt working as intended.
4) As I said earlier, doing a Nandroid is doing an image of the current state of the phone. If you do a Nandroid of a phone that has errors and you restore it, the errors wont disapear.
If you want to have a backup of the list of apps you already have you can use AppBrain. Its a little app that syncs your list of apps from the phone into a google account so when you do a full wipe you have only to install that app again and sync with the saved google list of apps. It wont save the data of the aplications but it will save the list of the ones you've installed.
Azureus: That is a most helpful reply, I sincerely appreciate it.
Google maps is not appearing in the market. I tried to sideload it and it still doesn't install. Thanks for the GREAT AppBrain trick.
I would appreciate if you could answer:
1) Which is the best, most stable custom ROM to use with official Froyo+Sense, Apps2SD+ ? I have doubts about stability of current ROM.
2) Which app can enable me to back up apps and then restore them one by one, given that Titanium Backup is not working for me somehow?
1) I personally use OpenDesire and its a non Sense UI ROM, so I dont really know what Sense UI ROM is the best. I've tryed several Sense UI ROMs and two that gave me a good feeling where LeeDrOiD Mod and the official Sense ROM of OpenDesire Team.
2) I've tryed several apps for data backups and the one that I liked most was Titanium Backup... May I ask why isnt working for you? I've tested both the free and donate version and they seem to work pretty well...
Thanks. Will try Leedroid now.
As for titanium, or backs up everything all right but when I try to restore it shows nothing. Don't know why is that
Titanium Backup saves the backups by default in a folder as the same name as the app in your SD. Have you tried deleting all the folder and doing backups again to see if the restore works? You can also go to settings and change the default folder in which it saves the backup to see if its a problem with de folder/SD or its the app.
I've done a few searches on the forum and several on Google, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. I've been running a custom kernel with stock 2.2 for a while now, and the only thing keeping me from flashing another ROM (maybe deodexed stock 2.2? Not sure yet) is all the stuff I have on my phone right now. I guess it's not a lot compared to some of you guys. Around thirty or so apps and widgets from the market, along with all their settings, and all my contacts.
If I nandroid before wiping and flashing, how do I recover just my apps, settings, and contacts? Is that a good idea, or should I go with something like Titanium? Before I back up all that stuff, should I move my apps from my SD card to my phone? Sorry if you guys answer questions like this every day, but I can't find **** with the forum search.
tl;dr - Wanna know how to restore apps/settings after flashing new ROM.
Titanium is the way to go for that. It backs up all your apps, contacts, messages and settings. I never move my apps back to my phone from the SD before a backup and I haven't had any problems.
Ballin. Thanks for the suggestion. So I just go to "Backup all user apps + system data", wipe, flash, reinstall Titanium (?), and run the restore?
Sorta. I run two separate backups, one for user apps and one for system data. I only backup certain things in the system data list so doing the separate backups makes it easier for me to choose what I am and am not backing up. Only gotta do one restore though, and then a reboot.
Alright, cool. I'll give all this a shot. Appreciate the help, bro.
No prob, happy to help.
I'm pretty sure that this hasn't been covered specifically so I'm posting a new thread.
I backed up all my apps and data on a stock rooted Sprint 4.24.651.1, 2.3.3 ROM via TBU Pro. I also performed a backup of my current ROM with ROM Manager. I then installed Team Nocturnal _Shooter_RLS_2.3.(after, of course, all the recommended wipes and resets) When I went to restore my apps and data I wondered if some of the previous app versions (where both ROMs have same apps/diff versions) would hose things up. It did, I think. Maybe all that I needed to do was clear some app caches and reboot. Not sure, I couldn't get any of the HTC widgets to load but I did see in another thread that cache clearing may fix that. But other stuff was goofy after the restore too. It became buggy and horribly slow, so I think that there's more to it than just the HTC stuff. I wonder if something I restored and maybe shouldn't have hosed it up. What I'm wondering is if someone would be so kind as to scan down my app lists and tell me which apps and/or data that are obvious that I shouldn't restore? For example, this new ROM has a different dialer, it makes sense to me that I wouldn't restore that. Same with anything to do with Sense, since this particular ROM I believe has a newer version, but not sure. I am thinking that any time I install a different ROM this will be a consideration but maybe I have the wrong idea about the whole thing. I have attached 30 images captured (incl the Software info screen) of my app list in TBU.
Lastly, I'll add that since making the move to Android from WinMo about a year ago I am very glad I did it. I could not have possibly been able to learn and do the things (rooting, S-off, flashing ROMS) that I have done without XDA! You folks are brainiacs and I greatly admire what you all do. (blatant a**-kissing)Thank you, thank you!
You have to be very careful about what you restore using Titanium when you are moving from one ROM to another. I found this from personal experience (moving from Stock to Synergy RLS1 and then to MikG). There is some good info in the Titanium Backup Wiki.
The part that you need to be careful about is restoring system data that is incompatible with the newer system apps in your new ROM. Your best bet is to only restore the User Apps and their data. You can do this in Titanium by selecting Menu > Batch > Restore missing apps with data.
There is some system data that you can restore without getting into trouble (probably bookmarks, SMS Messages, Sprint Voicemail) but you are going to have to experiment. I restored my missing apps using the batch option and then went to the Backup/Restore screen to look at the System Apps and Data one by one to see if there was anything that I could restore. Sometimes I would restore some data that would cause a problem and I would have to Wipe that data (also in Titanium Backup/Restore screen) and move along. I know at least once I was forced to start fresh and Wipe and reflash the ROM.
gbweller said:
I'm pretty sure that this hasn't been covered specifically so I'm posting a new thread.
I backed up all my apps and data on a stock rooted Sprint 4.24.651.1, 2.3.3 ROM via TBU Pro. I also performed a backup of my current ROM with ROM Manager. I then installed Team Nocturnal _Shooter_RLS_2.3.(after, of course, all the recommended wipes and resets) When I went to restore my apps and data I wondered if some of the previous app versions (where both ROMs have same apps/diff versions) would hose things up. It did, I think. Maybe all that I needed to do was clear some app caches and reboot. Not sure, I couldn't get any of the HTC widgets to load but I did see in another thread that cache clearing may fix that. But other stuff was goofy after the restore too. It became buggy and horribly slow, so I think that there's more to it than just the HTC stuff. I wonder if something I restored and maybe shouldn't have hosed it up. What I'm wondering is if someone would be so kind as to scan down my app lists and tell me which apps and/or data that are obvious that I shouldn't restore? For example, this new ROM has a different dialer, it makes sense to me that I wouldn't restore that. Same with anything to do with Sense, since this particular ROM I believe has a newer version, but not sure. I am thinking that any time I install a different ROM this will be a consideration but maybe I have the wrong idea about the whole thing. I have attached 30 images captured (incl the Software info screen) of my app list in TBU.
Lastly, I'll add that since making the move to Android from WinMo about a year ago I am very glad I did it. I could not have possibly been able to learn and do the things (rooting, S-off, flashing ROMS) that I have done without XDA! You folks are brainiacs and I greatly admire what you all do. (blatant a**-kissing)Thank you, thank you!
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I had a feeling that there would be conflicts like that before I even restored. I never thought to read the TBU wiki...thanks for that tip! It looks like I have a lot more homework to do before I flash again. I really have to decide if the time investment is really worth the return. There are so many cool ROMs out there but what a lot of B.S. sorting out what works and what doesn't. It is excruciating to have to read through 50+ posts following a ROM release to find out what you're in for. What would be super-cool is if someone was able to construct a spreadsheet of the most popular ROMs in a column with all of the popular features (4G, Wifi Tether, Mirroring, etc), kernel compatibility, Sense or no Sense, etc in a row at the top, with check marks indicating whether or not the feature works or is baked in. I'd pay to see that. Especially if it were linked to the downloads to the ROMs and kernels.
Thank you very much for the reply!
So I have only a little experience flashing ROMs but I am successfully on CM 10.0 at the moment and everything is working great.
The question I have is, for those people that are constantly flashing new roms, is there a quick and easy way to re-install all your apps and settings without having to do it one by one with every new rom?
I know you can have your contacts/calendar and such in google and I know Titanium Backup is awesome but it gives the occasional mess up when trying to restore some programs to a rom other then the one it was backed up from.
Am I missing another process here that thousands of people do every day to get their phone/apps back into a useable working order after flashing?
I use titanium backup and have never had an issue. only use it to restore user apps and user data never system apps or data, that's where the issues usually come from.
Also use a custom launcher and most of them have backup/restore options that put your home screens back quickly.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk 2
I'm sort of a newbie with the ROM flashing thing and I have a couple of questions so please bear with me.
I'm rooted on stock JB and I have SuperSU and Titanium Pro installed. I have around 130 various apps installed from the Play Store and I have all of them backed up with Titanium Pro.
Approximately how long does it take to get everything restored after flashing a ROM? What state are the apps restored to and what gets backed up/restored. I use the stock SMS and WhatsApp for texting and chatting with friends and family and have a lot of texts in both places. I'm also in a few group chats in WhatsApp. What happens to those chats and texts when I restore the apps? Is all my chat history gone in both places? Am I automatically put back in my group chats in WhatsApp? Does Titanium Pro back up the messages in those apps as well?
It's these types of unknowns that have made me paranoid about flashing custom ROMs but I would really like the added features and the customizations that some of these ROMS have to offer.
How about dirty flashing? It would seem to mitigate some of my apprehension about the above issues. I would obviously create a nandroid (I have CWM instaled) but I assume I couldn't flash an AOKP based ROM over my stock TW, right?
Thanks for any help provided.
the user apps should be good
but 130 hmm i'd say ~20-40 mins to restore?
though i wouldnt suggest to restore the Stock SMS or any SYSTEM APPS on TouchWiz on different roms
DO NOT DIRTY FLASH UNRELATED ROM! do full wipe before you flash
pappcam said:
I'm sort of a newbie with the ROM flashing thing and I have a couple of questions so please bear with me.
I'm rooted on stock JB and I have SuperSU and Titanium Pro installed. I have around 130 various apps installed from the Play Store and I have all of them backed up with Titanium Pro.
Approximately how long does it take to get everything restored after flashing a ROM? What state are the apps restored to and what gets backed up/restored. I use the stock SMS and WhatsApp for texting and chatting with friends and family and have a lot of texts in both places. I'm also in a few group chats in WhatsApp. What happens to those chats and texts when I restore the apps? Is all my chat history gone in both places? Am I automatically put back in my group chats in WhatsApp? Does Titanium Pro back up the messages in those apps as well?
It's these types of unknowns that have made me paranoid about flashing custom ROMs but I would really like the added features and the customizations that some of these ROMS have to offer.
How about dirty flashing? It would seem to mitigate some of my apprehension about the above issues. I would obviously create a nandroid (I have CWM instaled) but I assume I couldn't flash an AOKP based ROM over my stock TW, right?
Thanks for any help provided.
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Click to collapse
To backup your texts in TiBu: Menu -> Backup to XML. Same thing can be done for call logs and wifi.
And dirty flashing is simply a bad idea. It will trigger errors and bugs. Follow the full instructions when installing (which includes wiping).
i know its already been said by pcshano and BWolf56 but i'd like to reiterate that you simply dont want to dirty flash. you would find yourself one of the many people on this forum, searching thru threads and begging for help and fixes with your system bugs. always do a full wipe.
as far as backing up your text threads, etc, as mentioned, tibu is good as well as an sms-specific app like sms backup or even super backup.
I just use SMS backup and restore for mt text's
One more question about flashing custom ROMs.
Can I dirty flash incremental updates to the same ROM. It seems some ROMs are updated quite frequently.
Thanks.
pappcam said:
One more question about flashing custom ROMs.
Can I dirty flash incremental updates to the same ROM. It seems some ROMs are updated quite frequently.
Thanks.
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Click to collapse
Yes. Flash latest release and gapps. Wipe cache/dalvik. Reboot
If you have any issues, full wipe and re flash before posting in a thread as that usually solves the problem