Restore S3 to standard custom ROM - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

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
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.

Related

[Q] Force closes long lag times, other problems so un-root/re-root or something else?

So, I have been having some major problems with my phone. Tons of force closes, major lag times and things like that. I have tried a handful of different ROMs, including CM7, the nightlys, Miui and a few others. I hear great stories about people and rooting and I want to be one of them. I am tired of all the hassles. So, when talking to someone in the office who has had no issues with his Droid 2, he suggested, and said he has read, the best thing to do is go back to stock, unroot, as they will remove all possible conflicting files that could be causing problems. Then, re-root, and install whatever.
Any thoughts on that? Generally, my process for installing a new ROM, I boot into recovery manually, clean cache, clean Dalvik, then install ROM. Then, I restore apps and data from Titanium and restore the Nandroid from Rom Manager. The past couple times, I have done the factory reset, but eventually, a day or 2, it goes back to the same problems. Maybe, I should just try it without the restoring the Nandroid (even though it is a backup from when there was no problems) and the app data from Titanium. I assume, you know what happens when you assume, that both the Nandroid and Titanium backups are clean as I backed up when I was having no issues.
So, any thoughts here? Unroot, then re-root or is there something else I should try to wipe everything clean to solve the problems? Currently, on the original Droid Incredible (got it on the release day, so the first screen), running 2.2 when I rooted, currently on Miui 1.9.16, but just installed it 10 minutes ago and was running the Cyanogen nightly's before hand..
Thanks in advance
When flashing a new ROM you should always do the following before flashing, especially if you're flashing completely different ROMs:
Wipe user data/factory reset
Mounts and Storage - format /system, format /boot, format /data, format /cache
Advanced - Wipe Dalvik, Wipe Battery Stats
Then flash the ROM zip.
Try not restoring apps and data from Titanium, as restoring the app is okay, but restoring data can cause unwanted things to happen more times than not.
When you say restore nandroid from ROM Manager, what do you mean here? A nandroid is backing up your ROM via ROM Manager, which gets stored to your clockworkmod/backups folder...you shouldn't be pulling anything from that...
If you flash the RUU to return to stock and re-root, make sure you use the 2.2 RUU. If you use the 2.3, you need to be s-off to get rooted again. If you use the 2.3 RUU and you're s-on, no root for you...come back one year.
The ONLY time you want to restore a nandroid backup is if you've wiped your device clean and want to return to a previously backed up setup. You should never restore a nandroid backup over a ROM you've just installed. If that's what you're doing, that's your problem. You're effectively replacing whatever ROM you just flashed in it's entirety.
As for Titanium, I restore apps with data all the time, but system data should almost never be restored as it's OS and app version specific. Basically, if it's green, it's safe. If it's red, don't mess with it. If it's white, like a user app, app and data are usually safe to restore.
ROM Manager is a bigger pain in the ass than it's worth and is useless for anything more than flashing a new recovery. If my recovery is working reliably, I never install ROM manager. Most devs will tell you to never flash with ROM manager anyways. Any function that ROM Manager performs can be performed in recovery in a safer, more reliable fashion.
loonatik78 said:
The ONLY time you want to restore a nandroid backup is if you've wiped your device clean and want to return to a previously backed up setup. You should never restore a nandroid backup over a ROM you've just installed. If that's what you're doing, that's your problem. You're effectively replacing whatever ROM you just flashed in it's entirety.
As for Titanium, I restore apps with data all the time, but system data should almost never be restored as it's OS and app version specific. Basically, if it's green, it's safe. If it's red, don't mess with it. If it's white, like a user app, app and data are usually safe to restore.
ROM Manager is a bigger pain in the ass than it's worth and is useless for anything more than flashing a new recovery. If my recovery is working reliably, I never install ROM manager. Most devs will tell you to never flash with ROM manager anyways. Any function that ROM Manager performs can be performed in recovery in a safer, more reliable fashion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the correction, I forgot to put system in there...restoring system data is not good.
+1 on ROM Manager issues, always get a zip file of the ROM, and flash through recovery.
RMarkwald said:
When flashing a new ROM you should always do the following before flashing, especially if you're flashing completely different ROMs:
Wipe user data/factory reset
Mounts and Storage - format /system, format /boot, format /data, format /cache
Advanced - Wipe Dalvik, Wipe Battery Stats
Then flash the ROM zip.
When you say restore nandroid from ROM Manager, what do you mean here? A nandroid is backing up your ROM via ROM Manager, which gets stored to your clockworkmod/backups folder...you shouldn't be pulling anything from that....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is pretty much what I do, except for the Mounts and Storage parts.
For the Nandroid part, maybe I have my terminology mixed up. I do a restore from Rom Manager...which I thought was called the Nandroid backup. It seems to me, that it makes sure the launcher and things are set up right.
loonatik78 said:
The ONLY time you want to restore a nandroid backup is if you've wiped your device clean and want to return to a previously backed up setup. You should never restore a nandroid backup over a ROM you've just installed. If that's what you're doing, that's your problem. You're effectively replacing whatever ROM you just flashed in it's entirety.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rarely use the ROM Manager to do anything, just restore (what I thought was called the Nandroid) to make the launcher the way things were..
But it seems like that is my problem. I am installed the new ROM, then just restoring a back up of all the problems. DUH.. Guess I should try it all without restoring anything from the ROM Manager and see how it all works. That will be my project tonight..
Thanks
MikeDaub said:
That is pretty much what I do, except for the Mounts and Storage parts.
For the Nandroid part, maybe I have my terminology mixed up. I do a restore from Rom Manager...which I thought was called the Nandroid backup. It seems to me, that it makes sure the launcher and things are set up right.
I rarely use the ROM Manager to do anything, just restore (what I thought was called the Nandroid) to make the launcher the way things were..
But it seems like that is my problem. I am installed the new ROM, then just restoring a back up of all the problems. DUH.. Guess I should try it all without restoring anything from the ROM Manager and see how it all works. That will be my project tonight..
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you want to restore your launcher, try it through Titanium Backup. If that doesn't do it, and I can't promise you it will work correctly, you're probably SOL on restoring a launcher unless some other backup app does the job better.
loonatik78 said:
If you want to restore your launcher, try it through Titanium Backup. If that doesn't do it, and I can't promise you it will work correctly, you're probably SOL on restoring a launcher unless some other backup app does the job better.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am fine with not restoring it, I just thought "that is what you should do".
I don't venture too far from the regular settings, so it isn't a pain to do, just thought I should...
RMarkwald said:
When flashing a new ROM you should always do the following before flashing, especially if you're flashing completely different ROMs:
Wipe user data/factory reset
Mounts and Storage - format /system, format /boot, format /data, format /cache
Advanced - Wipe Dalvik, Wipe Battery Stats
Then flash the ROM zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One more quick question since I am thinking of it....is this same process if doing nightly updates from Cyanogen, or just is I change from say, Cyanogen to Miui or something??
Thanks again for all the help..
MikeDaub said:
One more quick question since I am thinking of it....is this same process if doing nightly updates from Cyanogen, or just is I change from say, Cyanogen to Miui or something??
Thanks again for all the help..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Generally, CM nightlies can be flashed over top of each other without a wipe since the vast majority of the code is identical. However, if an issue crops up, a wipe and flash might be a good thing to try. Probably won't help though, since nightlies, by definition, are experimental.
Always wipe and flash when moving from one ROM type to another.
loonatik78 said:
Generally, CM nightlies can be flashed over top of each other without a wipe since the vast majority of the code is identical. However, if an issue crops up, a wipe and flash might be a good thing to try. Probably won't help though, since nightlies, by definition, are experimental.
Always wipe and flash when moving from one ROM type to another.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's kinda what I figured, but I thought it was worth asking so I don't completely wipe the whole thing every time I install an update. The nightly I am on now seems to be working, so the new plan is keep whats working until it doesn't work anymore, or some major update comes along..
Thanks again for the help. I really appreciate it.
If the issue continues you can try copying everything off of your SD card to your PC and reformatting your SD card. Remember to use FAT32 format. Then copy everything back to your SD card. I've read threads were this helped the force close issues for many people - Just a thought.
jackbtha1 said:
If the issue continues you can try copying everything off of your SD card to your PC and reformatting your SD card. Remember to use FAT32 format. Then copy everything back to your SD card. I've read threads were this helped the force close issues for many people - Just a thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Certainly worth a thought. The card that is in it now came from a different phone. I am pretty sure I formatted it when I first plugged it in, but it can't hurt to try...
Thanks

[Q] Bad boot image on backup, now won't boot.

I did a phone swap, my original unrevoked rooted Evo 4G for my daughter's revolutionary rooted newer unit. Did a full backup of both phones, swapped the SD cards restored my backup to the new phone successfully, but am unsuccessful restoring her backup to the old phone. Fails at restoring the boot image after erasing the existing boot image. She only needs the old phone as a spare, but I would like to get it working again. I can get into recovery, but only have this one image. The data and system portions of the backup report that they can restore successfully, but not the boot image, and now I can't boot.
Can I install a separate boot image, and do I need to worry about HBOOT compatibility? Where would I find a compatible one?
Which is why you shouldn't do a backup from a different phone. Although it CAN be done, if you follow the procedures, it's highly NOT recommended.
You should probably run the RUU for that phone and start over.
n00b question: I've been seeing RUU throughout the Evo forums and despite all the time I've spent browsing these forums I haven't seemed to grasp it's meaning. What is RUU?
HipKat said:
Which is why you shouldn't do a backup from a different phone. Although it CAN be done, if you follow the procedures, it's highly NOT recommended.
You should probably run the RUU for that phone and start over.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Don't know what you mean about the RUU. Please explain.
I assume that I can restore the image that was last on it from the original SD.
What if I restore just the boot from the original, and the data and system from the image I was trying to restore there? Should that work?
This phone has a bad speaker and is only to be used as a backup, but I would like to get it working again if that is possible.
Yes, swap the sd cards back and fet ur phone working.
You can not put a backup of one phone onto another FULLY. you can restore data and apps, but the hidden systems files etc are phone specific.
What you need to do us just back up your apps and data then flash a new copy of your ROM, then restore ur apps and data.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
I tried flashing the original boot image but the system from the other phone. Didn't work. Today, I will try flashing the original system as well.
Funny, everything worked well in the other (more important) direction.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
SOLVED. I restored the original image for the phone, did a "factory reset", then restored the data, cache, ext-sd, and wimax from the other phone. Everything seems to work, and it pretty much looks like the other phone used to look. Compatibility problem was boot, but the original boot image was incompatible with the other system.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App

Sorry if this has been posted already...

I'm freaking out and need some help. I recently rooted my S3 and everything went smoothly. I was running stock android 4.1.2 I think (multi-window feature) with root. Wanted to flash the cyanogemon 10.1 rom. I got titanium back up,backed up eveything. Flashed it. Seemed to be working normally but as I tried to restore my apps and things from the titanium back up it went all wrong. "Unfortunately,Email has stopped,the process android,process media has stopped. Also says process.acore has stopped and process.gapps has stopped pop up that is constant. I freaked out and tried to go back to normal and now I'm screwed.
I tried recovery and it tells me I dont have a OS on my phone. I than decided to Unroot the phone and start from a fresh stock android but it seemed like it worked 50%. I see the background and it shows me the set up google account for the phone but the pop up messages haven't stopped.If I go into the normal recovery and wipe data/factory reset will it solve the issue? And if it will should I choose to wipe cache partition first before doing so?
Which recovery do you have? Also I never backup system apps such as email, because they change when going from 1 rom to the next. No OS means you wiped system, without having another ROM saved on your sd card. If your computer still sees the internal and external memory and your custom recovery is still working, you should be able to save a new rom, do a full wipe-system, data, cache, dalvik cache. Then flash rom you already saved to your memory. I take it you didn't do a Android backup after you rooted and flashed custom recovery?
sent from somewhere
Miguelcoo1 said:
I'm freaking out and need some help. I recently rooted my S3 and everything went smoothly. I was running stock android 4.1.2 I think (multi-window feature) with root. Wanted to flash the cyanogemon 10.1 rom. I got titanium back up,backed up eveything. Flashed it. Seemed to be working normally but as I tried to restore my apps and things from the titanium back up it went all wrong. "Unfortunately,Email has stopped,the process android,process media has stopped. Also says process.acore has stopped and process.gapps has stopped pop up that is constant. I freaked out and tried to go back to normal and now I'm screwed.
I tried recovery and it tells me I dont have a OS on my phone. I than decided to Unroot the phone and start from a fresh stock android but it seemed like it worked 50%. I see the background and it shows me the set up google account for the phone but the pop up messages haven't stopped.If I go into the normal recovery and wipe data/factory reset will it solve the issue? And if it will should I choose to wipe cache partition first before doing so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, first I'll describe what you did and how that (most likely) messed up your phone. Then I'll describe what you can do to fix it.
Problem
It seems like your original flash of CM10.1 went smoothly. It must have been something to do with your Titanium Backup (TiBu) restores. More than likely, you tried to restore too much. In TiBu, the different apps have different colors: Red, Yellow, Green, and White. In the menu, you can see the following Legend:
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
White: User Application. These are apps that you installed from the Play Store or sideloaded by directly installing an apk. These are safe to restore.
Red: System Application. These are system files that heavily rely on which Android version (4.1.x vs. 4.2.x) and whether you're on TW or AOSP. I always try to avoid restoring these backups (even when just upgrading to a newer version of the same Rom). Some people will say that you can restore the Data only for these, but my motto is: caution will help prevent mistakes (ground-shaking, I know).
Green: System Service with Useful Data: These are system apps that have useful information (such as User Accounts, etc.). I treat these the same as Red Backups, but am a bit more likely to restore the data of them (green means go, right?).
Yellow: These backups are system data that can be restored as an xml file. These are inherently safer than the red and green ones, and I say restore away (I always restore my Call Log, Messages, and Wi-Fi Access Points).
The reason you were getting FCs was restoring a red or green backup. This can sometimes work, but has a lot of potential for issues when switching between TW and AOSP Roms. Most likely something in your /system folder is messed up due to restoring an app. Even when you flash a new Rom, it just overwrites items in your System folder, it doesn't wipe /System. So whatever is wrong in your /System folder is still there, regardless of what you flash.
Ok, now that we've identified what's wrong with your phone, we can now help solve it!
Solution/Fixes
Are you able to get into a custom Recovery? If not, you need to use Odin and follow The Rooting Guide to get back to a custom recovery (I recommend TWRP, but CWM is just as good).
Next, you want to download a Rom and put it on your device. I'd recommend (just for now), to get Freeza's stock TW Rom.
Now, before you try to flash this Rom, you'll have to wipe. In order to get rid of the FCs, you'll have to at least wipe System. I'd recommend a full wipe of your Internal SD Card (after backing up anything you want to save), but it's not technically necessary. Afterwards, you can wipe data and cache/dalvik cache.
Then you can flash your Rom. It seems like you know how to do this, but in case you don't, I have previously posted directions over here.
Hope this helps!
joeyhdownsouth said:
So you never had a custom recovery, like CWM or TWRP? Also I never backup system apps such as email, because they change when going from 1 rom to the next.
sent from somewhere
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did have a Custom Recovery. I believe it was TWRP. I think all this happened was because when it occured I might of went into the recovery and accidently wiped system. I know that the phone didn't have OS on it and was blank. It just stayed on the Samsung boot screen. About 20 minutes ago I tried to unroot the phone and start with stock android. I didn't have much important stuff on my phone so I don't mind. The problem is when I did that it seemed to work. Only to find out that the pop-ups still exist and are constantly popping up where I cant do anything.
I would it worked seeing as though I can go into my stock recovery mode. Could it be possible to just wipe everything there and factory reset it or would it brick the phone? Also if I can just factory reset it through the stock recovery should I wipe the cache partition first?
topherk said:
Ok, first I'll describe what you did and how that (most likely) messed up your phone. Then I'll describe what you can do to fix it.
Problem
It seems like your original flash of CM10.1 went smoothly. It must have been something to do with your Titanium Backup (TiBu) restores. More than likely, you tried to restore too much. In TiBu, the different apps have different colors: Red, Yellow, Green, and White. In the menu, you can see the following Legend:
White: User Application. These are apps that you installed from the Play Store or sideloaded by directly installing an apk. These are safe to restore.
Red: System Application. These are system files that heavily rely on which Android version (4.1.x vs. 4.2.x) and whether you're on TW or AOSP. I always try to avoid restoring these backups (even when just upgrading to a newer version of the same Rom). Some people will say that you can restore the Data only for these, but my motto is: caution will help prevent mistakes (ground-shaking, I know).
Green: System Service with Useful Data: These are system apps that have useful information (such as User Accounts, etc.). I treat these the same as Red Backups, but am a bit more likely to restore the data of them (green means go, right?).
Yellow: These backups are system data that can be restored as an xml file. These are inherently safer than the red and green ones, and I say restore away (I always restore my Call Log, Messages, and Wi-Fi Access Points).
The reason you were getting FCs was restoring a red or green backup. This can sometimes work, but has a lot of potential for issues when switching between TW and AOSP Roms. Most likely something in your /system folder is messed up due to restoring an app. Even when you flash a new Rom, it just overwrites items in your System folder, it doesn't wipe /System. So whatever is wrong in your /System folder is still there, regardless of what you flash.
Ok, now that we've identified what's wrong with your phone, we can now help solve it!
Solution/Fixes
Are you able to get into a custom Recovery? If not, you need to use Odin and follow The Rooting Guide to get back to a custom recovery (I recommend TWRP, but CWM is just as good).
Next, you want to download a Rom and put it on your device. I'd recommend (just for now), to get Freeza's stock TW Rom.
Now, before you try to flash this Rom, you'll have to wipe. In order to get rid of the FCs, you'll have to at least wipe System. I'd recommend a full wipe of your Internal SD Card (after backing up anything you want to save), but it's not technically necessary. Afterwards, you can wipe data and cache/dalvik cache.
Then you can flash your Rom. It seems like you know how to do this, but in case you don't, I have previously posted directions over here.
Hope this helps!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well as of right I believe I just unrooted the phone and went back to stock android because when I try and go into recovery mode, it gives me the normal stock recovery. I thought it would work but needless to say the applications pop-ups saying it stopped working is still happening. I can see the google account set up but cant do anything because of the pop-ups and also theres a I icnon with a no symbol around it on the top left corner (dont know what that means). Is it possible to factory reset and wipe the data from this stock recovery? And if so should I wipe cache partition first?
Also thanks for the help. My head hurts trying to figure out how to fix this...It just seems like everything I try and do makes it worse or the same.
Miguelcoo1 said:
I did have a Custom Recovery. I believe it was TWRP. I think all this happened was because when it occured I might of went into the recovery and accidently wiped system. I know that the phone didn't have OS on it and was blank. It just stayed on the Samsung boot screen. About 20 minutes ago I tried to unroot the phone and start with stock android. I didn't have much important stuff on my phone so I don't mind. The problem is when I did that it seemed to work. Only to find out that the pop-ups still exist and are constantly popping up where I cant do anything.
I would it worked seeing as though I can go into my stock recovery mode. Could it be possible to just wipe everything there and factory reset it or would it brick the phone? Also if I can just factory reset it through the stock recovery should I wipe the cache partition first?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not gonna work because you wiped system, and now you have stock recovery. I would follow topherk's post above this one. Very well written.
sent from somewhere
Miguelcoo1 said:
Well as of right I believe I just unrooted the phone and went back to stock android because when I try and go into recovery mode, it gives me the normal stock recovery. I thought it would work but needless to say the applications pop-ups saying it stopped working is still happening. I can see the google account set up but cant do anything because of the pop-ups and also theres a I icnon with a no symbol around it on the top left corner (dont know what that means). Is it possible to factory reset and wipe the data from this stock recovery? And if so should I wipe cache partition first?
Also thanks for the help. My head hurts trying to figure out how to fix this...It just seems like everything I try and do makes it worse or the same.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're doing well, don't get too frustrated.
Stock recovery is relatively limited and it won't be able to wipe what you need to wipe. When you do a factory reset in Stock (or custom) recoveries, you are just wiping the /data folder. Since we've identified that it's most likely an issue with /System, a Factory Reset won't do any good.
Your best bet it to get a Custom Recovery again through the Rooting Guide. That guide is really well-written and has pictures so it's easier to follow.
After you have CWM and TWRP, it's real easy to wipe everything (in TWRP 2.5.0.0, you just wipe internal sd card and you're good to go). Or you can do a comprehensive wipe by wiping /System, /Data, Cache and Dalvik Cache. Then you can flash a Rom (again, I'd recommend Freeza's). After you get Freeza's Rom up and running, I'd make a Nandroid Backup immediately (in a Custom Recovery). This will be the backup that you can return to whenever something doesn't flash well.
topherk said:
You're doing well, don't get too frustrated.
Stock recovery is relatively limited and it won't be able to wipe what you need to wipe. When you do a factory reset in Stock (or custom) recoveries, you are just wiping the /data folder. Since we've identified that it's most likely an issue with /System, a Factory Reset won't do any good.
Your best bet it to get a Custom Recovery again through the Rooting Guide. That guide is really well-written and has pictures so it's easier to follow.
After you have CWM and TWRP, it's real easy to wipe everything (in TWRP 2.5.0.0, you just wipe internal sd card and you're good to go). Or you can do a comprehensive wipe by wiping /System, /Data, Cache and Dalvik Cache. Then you can flash a Rom (again, I'd recommend Freeza's). After you get Freeza's Rom up and running, I'd make a Nandroid Backup immediately (in a Custom Recovery). This will be the backup that you can return to whenever something doesn't flash well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all the help. I'm downloading the GS3 Root Kit Zip so I can follow your instructions. I'm going to try and bring my phone back to life. I'll update when hopefully its fixed lol.
topherk said:
You're doing well, don't get too frustrated.
Stock recovery is relatively limited and it won't be able to wipe what you need to wipe. When you do a factory reset in Stock (or custom) recoveries, you are just wiping the /data folder. Since we've identified that it's most likely an issue with /System, a Factory Reset won't do any good.
Your best bet it to get a Custom Recovery again through the Rooting Guide. That guide is really well-written and has pictures so it's easier to follow.
After you have CWM and TWRP, it's real easy to wipe everything (in TWRP 2.5.0.0, you just wipe internal sd card and you're good to go). Or you can do a comprehensive wipe by wiping /System, /Data, Cache and Dalvik Cache. Then you can flash a Rom (again, I'd recommend Freeza's). After you get Freeza's Rom up and running, I'd make a Nandroid Backup immediately (in a Custom Recovery). This will be the backup that you can return to whenever something doesn't flash well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I did everything but flash the rom. My question is in the link you gave me to flash Freeza's rom which one do I download, The first one on the top?
Miguelcoo1 said:
Well I did everything but flash the rom. My question is in the link you gave me to flash Freeza's rom which one do I download, The first one on the top?
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I knew this question was going to pop up... I should've put it in my original post.
You're probably going to want to flash the Deodex MD4 one:
DeOdex:
Sprint Touchwiz Jelly Bean 4.1.2 L710VPBMD4
MD5: 77262D9D6CF1A6AF30A8981A95A75D57
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I find that a lot of mods require DeOdex Roms, so in case you decide to flash one in the future, it'll help to have it. And the main negative of DeOdex is a slightly longer start-up time, so I recommend people use DeOdex.
topherk said:
I knew this question was going to pop up... I should've put it in my original post.
You're probably going to want to flash the Deodex MD4 one:
I find that a lot of mods require DeOdex Roms, so in case you decide to flash one in the future, it'll help to have it. And the main negative of DeOdex is a slightly longer start-up time, so I recommend people use DeOdex.
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Ok, I'm downloading the massive zip file on my desktop and waiting for it to be finished. My question is how am I going to transfer the zip file into the sdcard? Could it be just as simple as putting the phone in download mode and connect to my computer to transfer the file? Also I wanted to know once I Flash the rom and Custom Recovery which would be TWRP to Backup does it back up everything or is there only a few things I do need to back up. I ask because as of right now my phone is shut off and doesn't have a OS on it. Just waiting on the zip file to finally flash the rom and back it up.
I also wanted to ask you about something I been thinking about. When all this mess happened because I backed up files I wasnt suppose to back up with titanium back up, the backup file still exist on my sdcard. Is it possible for me to delete everything other than just the apps and it will work fine? I ask because I'm planning on getting the Cyan 10.1 rom again because I loved it (for the few minutes it ran fine). Or should I just not do it and start fresh? Would it be possible to use those app back up files when I install titanium back up again?
Miguelcoo1 said:
Ok, I'm downloading the massive zip file on my desktop and waiting for it to be finished. My question is how am I going to transfer the zip file into the sdcard? Could it be just as simple as putting the phone in download mode and connect to my computer to transfer the file? Also I wanted to know once I Flash the rom and Custom Recovery which would be TWRP to Backup does it back up everything or is there only a few things I do need to back up. I ask because as of right now my phone is shut off and doesn't have a OS on it. Just waiting on the zip file to finally flash the rom and back it up.
I also wanted to ask you about something I been thinking about. When all this mess happened because I backed up files I wasnt suppose to back up with titanium back up, the backup file still exist on my sdcard. Is it possible for me to delete everything other than just the apps and it will work fine? I ask because I'm planning on getting the Cyan 10.1 rom again because I loved it (for the few minutes it ran fine). Or should I just not do it and start fresh? Would it be possible to use those app back up files when I install titanium back up again?
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Click to collapse
Ok, so from what I can tell, you've already wiped your internal memory. Since you can't load up into the Rom to copy the files, there are a couple of ways to get them on your phone:
Manual Copy: Take the external Micro SD card out and pop it into an adapter and insert it into your computer to copy the file (I've done this once or twice).
Recovery Mounting as USB: If you have TWRP 2.4.1.0 or 2.5.0.0, there should be an option which allows you to mount the phone as a usb mass storage. It should be in the mount menu.
ADB Copy: Connect the phone to the computer and boot the phone into download mode. You can then use adb to copy the file over to the phone. I'm personally not very good with adb, but there are good guides on here with how to do this. (Guide 1) (Guide 2)
Once you get a Rom up and running on your phone, you won't have to do these, but since it wasn't working before, this is the way to do it.
topherk said:
Ok, so from what I can tell, you've already wiped your internal memory. Since you can't load up into the Rom to copy the files, there are a couple of ways to get them on your phone:
Manual Copy: Take the external Micro SD card out and pop it into an adapter and insert it into your computer to copy the file (I've done this once or twice).
Recovery Mounting as USB: If you have TWRP 2.4.1.0 or 2.5.0.0, there should be an option which allows you to mount the phone as a usb mass storage. It should be in the mount menu.
ADB Copy: Connect the phone to the computer and boot the phone into download mode. You can then use adb to copy the file over to the phone. I'm personally not very good with adb, but there are good guides on here with how to do this. (Guide 1) (Guide 2)
Once you get a Rom up and running on your phone, you won't have to do these, but since it wasn't working before, this is the way to do it.
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Ok, the phone is back and running good. I just flashed and its working great...Again, Thanks a lot. Thanks for being so patient with me lol. It's been a all day affair for me wit this. I just Backed up the Rom in the TWRP recovery mode and just backed up /System /Data /Boot. I also compressed it and put it on my external SD. Now that I got that out the way, I wanted to verify if my thought on using the back up files (apps only) from the last titanium backup (which messed up my phone) to maybe try and restore them to get the phone to how it was and wont lose my apps/games? Can this be done or would it be difficult to know the differences between a app and other files?
When I backup in twrp, I typically choose everything. The recovery and cache are typically so small it doesn't matter.
In terms of titanium backups, I'd say it's safe to restore any user apps, but no system apps, not even the green ones.
Glad to hear everything worked for you!
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
topherk said:
When I backup in twrp, I typically choose everything. The recovery and cache are typically so small it doesn't matter.
In terms of titanium backups, I'd say it's safe to restore any user apps, but no system apps, not even the green ones.
Glad to hear everything worked for you!
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
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Believe me you saved me from disaster. I was going nuts trying to find a way to fix it. Glad you saw my thread and your patience to help. I'm thinking about backing up the rom again after updating all the normal stock apps but before I try and get my apps that I downloaded from the play store. I do have one quick question, The TWRP backup also backs up the apps that you have right?
I have one last question. If my backup file (titanium) is on my external SD how can I tell which apps I can restore when I download titanium back up again? Is there even a way to know?
Yeah, it's better to have a nandroid backup of your set-up phone. It makes a restore much more palatable.
In terms of TiBu, it should find your restore folder. If not, you can manually set it from the settings.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
topherk said:
Yeah, it's better to have a nandroid backup of your set-up phone. It makes a restore much more palatable.
In terms of TiBu, it should find your restore folder. If not, you can manually set it from the settings.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
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I now learned to always have a nandroid backup to make life so much easier lol. My only concern with TiBu finding the restore folder on my External SD, I'm concerned that all this might happen again. So from what you told me just restore the user apps only..Nothing more? Thank you man, your a life saver.
No problem man, I enjoy helping people and it deepens my understanding of my own phone.
TiBu shouldn't restore your apps unless you tell it to. I always restore one app at a time, so I know exactly what I'm restoring. I have my TiBu to automatically backup my phone daily at 3am. It backs up everything, system and user apps. I just make sure that I only restore user apps when I flash a new Rom.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
topherk said:
No problem man, I enjoy helping people and it deepens my understanding of my own phone.
TiBu shouldn't restore your apps unless you tell it to. I always restore one app at a time, so I know exactly what I'm restoring. I have my TiBu to automatically backup my phone daily at 3am. It backs up everything, system and user apps. I just make sure that I only restore user apps when I flash a new Rom.
Sent from my SPH-L710 using xda app-developers app
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Sorry to bother you again but I just saw something that seems pretty fishy. I been practically on Wifi since I flashed the phone and now everything works. The issue i'm seeing though is that the signal bars are good with reception yet the 3g symbol isnt showing up. I tried to make a call and it seems like it works but I can't go on the internet. It just gives me the webpage not available screen. I dont think I have a data connection..Any ideas?
Update profile and prl.
Transmitted with a portable device using Xparent Blue Tapatalk 2

[Q] Clockworkrecovery no files found

First of all I am a novice when it comes to this sort of thing. I was running Paradigm 2.3.5. Created a clockworkmod backup using version 5.0.x.x (can't remember the exact version). I then wiped data, wiped cache, installed Paradigm 3.1, installed gapps, and booted. Well I decided I wasn't ready to re do everything I have done to my phone and I wanted to go back to my previous backup. I restarted into recovery, but when I attempted a recovery I get no files found. The files are still there if I look through a usb connection. I understand this has something to do with the /0 folder and moving from 4.1 to 4.2 android. I'm not sure what to do here I just want to restore my phone to before all of this mess. I also understand there are other topics on this issue, and I have been looking through them for hours now, but I can't seem to get anything to work. Please help.
Edit: I was able to download a file manager and transfer the clockwork backups into the correct clockwork folder and then restore to my previous rom. I still would like to know if it is possible to flash a new rom without losing all of your files and apps.
ddrawer said:
First of all I am a novice when it comes to this sort of thing. I was running Paradigm 2.3.5. Created a clockworkmod backup using version 5.0.x.x (can't remember the exact version). I then wiped data, wiped cache, installed Paradigm 3.1, installed gapps, and booted. Well I decided I wasn't ready to re do everything I have done to my phone and I wanted to go back to my previous backup. I restarted into recovery, but when I attempted a recovery I get no files found. The files are still there if I look through a usb connection. I understand this has something to do with the /0 folder and moving from 4.1 to 4.2 android. I'm not sure what to do here I just want to restore my phone to before all of this mess. I also understand there are other topics on this issue, and I have been looking through them for hours now, but I can't seem to get anything to work. Please help.
Edit: I was able to download a file manager and transfer the clockwork backups into the correct clockwork folder and then restore to my previous rom. I still would like to know if it is possible to flash a new rom without losing all of your files and apps.
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Click to collapse
You shouldn't lose your files if you wipe unless you wipe sdcard (in a custom recovery). You can save data and apps with titaniumbackup.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium HD app
mrgnex said:
You shouldn't lose your files if you wipe unless you wipe sdcard (in a custom recovery). You can save data and apps with titaniumbackup.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium HD app
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Click to collapse
Yes I never lost any files they were still on my sdcard, but there was an sdcard\ and an sdcard\0 with duplicate folder except one of the duplicates were empty. So your saying if I do a back up with titaniumbackup then flash a new rom that uses android 4.2.2 or 4.3 I can then restore with titaniumbackup and have all my old data and apps on the new rom?
Do a search on the GNEX Development forum for the current version of CWM. 6.0.4.0 was just posted earlier today.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Sorry to be so annoying with this, and I really appreciate everyones help. To clarify, I just installed CWM 6.0.4.0. If I now make a backup with CWM, clear files/factory reset, clear cache, and flash latest rom, I can then boot and it will be like nothing changed as far as my app configurations and data goes? If not, is there a way to do that? Will titan do that for me?
ddrawer said:
Sorry to be so annoying with this, and I really appreciate everyones help. To clarify, I just installed CWM 6.0.4.0. If I now make a backup with CWM, clear files/factory reset, clear cache, and flash latest rom, I can then boot and it will be like nothing changed as far as my app configurations and data goes? If not, is there a way to do that? Will titan do that for me?
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Click to collapse
Think of CWM as an image bu of your phone. If something messes up when you flash that latest rom, you can restore the bu and all will be back to the way it was pre-flash. TiBU will backup your apps and data, so after you do a clean flash you can restore them. My personal preference for a clean flash is to let the Play Store restore my apps, then use TiBU to restore the data for my user apps. I've found TiBU to be a bit of a crap shoot when it comes to system apps. There's always a bit of work involved with a clean flash, but it's not too much and will usually save some headaches.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
Well this weekend I decided to flash CM 10.2. I backed up to titanium, I backed up to cwm latest version, factory reset, flashed CM 10,2, flashed gapps, booted, play store repopulated my apps. Open titanium backup "no backups found", tell it to detect the backup folder on whole device, no backups found. So I just ran my cwm restore and when I boot I get a whole new error. When I try to browse my files with astro file browser I get "cannot downgrade database from 2 to 1". What is wrong now?
Edit:
I just tried to do another cwm backup because I was going to move around some files through usb, it took forever and then in the end failed because the boot image was messed up. It said something about free space so I deleted all but the most recent cwm backup and then the backup that failed before was able to finish. After doing that I booted again and I was able to browse my files with astro again. So that isn't an issue anymore, but there has got to be something wrong with my file structure that this keeps happening.
I have two 0 folders, is that normal. From root I have storage\sdcard0\0\0 and that contains my data from before I started any of this flashing from 4.1. storage\sdcard0\0 has duplicate folders of storage\sdcard0\0\0 but they are empty. There is also a folder called sdcard in the root folder. So obviously there is a huge mess here. Is there a tool I can run to clean it up, or can someone tell me how the file structure is supposed to be so I can just move things back the the way it should be.
Edit 2:
I ended up copying the files in the deepest 0 folders out to the 0 folder above them then removing the deepest 0 folder. I now have sdcard\0 which only has a clockworkmod folder with a recovery file in it, and storage\sdcard0\0 which when I go into the 0 folder I get routed to sdcard\0. Everything seems to be working fine still. I'm thinking about just combining the sdcard0 with the sdcard and removing the sdcard0 since I'm currently on android 4.1. Then with everything cleaned up I might give it another go.

[Q] n00b needs help moving from 3+ to 4+ pls

Hi,
im sure this is a simple thing that i have missed but please help.
I was running PA 3.99, have made a backup using TWRP.
I have then wiped the phone, installed the new PA & GApp and rebooted. All is fine, I now have a clean fresh install of the latest PA.
Now what I wanted or at least thought was correct to do was restore using TWRP.... now this is my first mistake as all his does is restore it back to 3.99! DOH
So i then try again but with out wiping the system part. This time i keep 4+ but get stuck on a bootloader.
Basically all i am trying to do is restore my data IE all my exchange accounts and contacts etc which I thought would be done with the data part of TWRP.
All apps have re-installed with the help of google+ so is there a way to get the missing data back at all?
Thanks
TWRP restores should not be done unless you want to restore the whole thing.
You have contradicting information, and clearly a lack of understanding the partition/folder structure layout of Android. The rom flash automatically WIPES system because /SYSTEM is where the ROM is stored. /DATA is where your data, apps, appdata, etc are stored. You should use Titanium Backup for backing up your apps/contacts (contacts should be synced with Google and not require backing up or restoring), call logs, mms/sms, etc.
I personally updated a galaxy nexus maguro, and 2 grouper (nexus 7 2012 wifi) from 3.99 to 4.0 with the OTA app, without wiping anything. From your 3.99 you should be able to do nothing more than install the new rom (gapps is even optional as the script keeps those installed anyway) and boot. dont wipe or restore anything. If that fails you should use the Titanium backup method instead.
ugh. duplicate post
Thanks. Yes I am still learning the whole process and obviously became confused. I will make sure from now on I use titanium backup properly. I thought team win was all I needed for backing up.
Thanks again.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
foxguard said:
.. I thought team win was all I needed for backing up.
Thanks again.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
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For backing up app data, No. However in truth it is never a bad idea to keep a clean working backup image of an existing ROM in case all hell breaks loose on your device and need a copy of a previous image that you know works.
Needless to say it's preferable that you keep a copy this image some where other than on the storage partition of the device itself, like perhaps on your Google Drive space.
Cheers.
ArclightX said:
For backing up app data, No. However in truth it is never a bad idea to keep a clean working backup image of an existing ROM in case all hell breaks loose on your device and need a copy of a previous image that you know works.
Needless to say it's preferable that you keep a copy this image some where other than on the storage partition of the device itself, like perhaps on your Google Drive space.
Cheers.
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Cheers mate

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