Nandroid backup to switch roms - Xperia Arc Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey folks!
This may be a silly but I just want to clarify, it is possible to switch between roms quickly with Nandroid backups?
In better words, I mean to have a Nandroid backup of Rom A with all the apps, settings etc. saved, and I flash Rom B to see if I like it, and if I want to switch back to Rom A, all I have to do to get back to where I was previously is to do a clean install of Rom A and restore Nandroid backup. Is this possible? Google tells me it's possible with other devices, but I just want to make sure.
Thanks!

No need to even do a clean restore.
Just backup rom A, install rom B, and when you want to go back to A, make a backup of B and do a nandroid restore.
Of course after wiping data and cache.

It's not silly, but the answer is obvious when you think about it, and most People figure stuff like this out from just trying it, if you've already made a backup it doesn't matter if something you attempt fails.
Sent from Myushi

tangosierra_ said:
No need to even do a clean restore.
Just backup rom A, install rom B, and when you want to go back to A, make a backup of B and do a nandroid restore.
Of course after wiping data and cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
XperienceD said:
It's not silly, but the answer is obvious when you think about it, and most People figure stuff like this out from just trying it, if you've already made a backup it doesn't matter if something you attempt fails.
Sent from Myushi
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for clearing it up! It's the nerves that always get to me when I do these things

SammiSaysHello said:
It's the nerves that always get to me when I do these things
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hear ya.
Sent from Myushi

Related

Nandroid Restore

Sorry if this is a stupid noob question but can someone tell me exactly if Nandroid Restore will recover these things:
Apps
Email accounts (Exchange) and all email/attachments
Settings
Call History
Text Messages
Picture Mail
I don't know why it's so hard to find this out but if you could help me out I would appreciate it. As I want to make my NAND fully unlocked but I don't want to have to lose everything as I'm on the road and don't want to redownload and setup on a 1x roaming network. Thanks in advance.
Yeah, nandroid is basically a system image. It keeps all your apps, settings and other information backed up exactly as it was when you made the backup.
Sorry, not that I don't believe you but can someone else confirm, as I said I don't want to get into a situation where I don't have the setup (since I'm not at home) where I can afford to do a restore.
superlinkx said:
Yeah, nandroid is basically a system image. It keeps all your apps, settings and other information backed up exactly as it was when you made the backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what he said but feel free to not believe me also...
Thank you both!
lol I love peeps when they ask for so-called "second opinion" and they say "..not that I don't believe you" meaning, I don't believe you....haha j/k
Yeah nandroid backup/restore will basically put EVERYTHING back to where it was before, and not missing a single bit of it. It helped saves me lots of times because I flash all sorts of different ROMs from others to my own. I have a base ROM that I really like setup to where I like and nandroid backup, and restore when I want to get back to where I was in minutes. Loving DROID!
Two tools I can't live without: Nandroid and Titanium Backup.
Like vboyz103, I have a particular ROM fully configured and backed up via Nandroid. If I'm in the middle of playing around and have to run out the door, I can always nandroid restore that image and know I have a reliable phone to take with me. When I make that nandroid backup, I also do a backup with Titanium...
When I install a new ROM, the first thing I do is hit the market and download Titanium Backup. I run it and do a restore, and all my apps are then restored on to the new image, without having to go download them one-by-one. Once everything is back in place and I'm ready to start using it, I do another nandroid backup and save it as a "base" image of that particular ROM. If I screw it up, I can just nandroid restore that base image of that particular ROM.
That's my routine, I'm sure there are other methods that people prefer!
Didnt want to start a new thread just to ask another nandroid restore question.
Should you wipe data/dalvik before you nandroid restore?
XpAcErX said:
Didnt want to start a new thread just to ask another nandroid restore question.
Should you wipe data/dalvik before you nandroid restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, when you do a nandroid restore, the caches are replaced as well.
CentroniX said:
No, when you do a nandroid restore, the caches are replaced as well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you

Where I'm wrong?

Hello!
When I want to migrate from one rom to another I'm doing those steps.
1. Downloading new Rom and copy it on the root of my SD Card
2. Backup trough the CWM
3. Wipe Data/reset factory
4. Wipe Cashe
5. Wipe Dalvik
6. Flash new Rom
7. Restore from Backup I did in step 2
Is it everything?
I just wanted to make sure what I'm not doing right because I have some issues. Especially if I'm flashing the new Rom but after looking in the "About phone" section I'm still having the info from previous Rom.
Please, can somebody help me what I'm doing wrong?
Sorry for that stupid question, just wanted to make sure.
Thank you and God bless you!
Its because you are restoring in step 7 you are actually bringing back the old rom (the restore point). You can get titanium backup and backup everything in there from your old rom. Flash the new one then run titanium on the fresh new rom and you will have all your apps.
So, what is the best practice if I want to restore data and apps I have? I don't want to restore the apps one by one because I have many of them installed.
And what about the data? Accounts, Contacts, etc...
Thank you!
antila said:
So, what is the best practice if I want to restore data and apps I have? I don't want to restore the apps one by one because I have many of them installed.
And what about the data? Accounts, Contacts, etc...
Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea, you are restoring the entire previous rom. You need to do everything up until the point where you used to restore, and then go down to Advanced restore instead. Select the backup that you made the backup of. Select data. Let it do its thing. It will restore all of your apps and settings and app data to the NEW rom that you flashed.
muyoso said:
Yea, you are restoring the entire previous rom. You need to do everything up until the point where you used to restore, and then go down to Advanced restore instead. Select the backup that you made the backup of. Select data. Let it do its thing. It will restore all of your apps and settings and app data to the NEW rom that you flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, thanks for that. I had been using Titanium and was never exactly sure what settings to use to restore. So just choosing the restore data option will restore apps AND data?
dr_gibberish said:
Wow, thanks for that. I had been using Titanium and was never exactly sure what settings to use to restore. So just choosing the restore data option will restore apps AND data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Choosing the Advanced Restore and then selecting Data will restore the entire Data folder from whatever clockworkmod backup you select. The data folder contains all of the apps that YOU installed and didn't come with the previous rom as well as any data corresponding with those apps such as settings and save states, as well as wireless network passwords, as well as text messages and MMS messages. It pretty much restores your phone to exactly where it was when you backed up.
Now one of the drawbacks is that it does not always work perfectly. When you are flashing from drastically different roms, like Froyo to Eclair, I would recommend against it. It may work or it may not. I have had it work a vast majority of the time. Its a lifesaver.
muyoso said:
Choosing the Advanced Restore and then selecting
Now one of the drawbacks is that it does not always work perfectly. When you are flashing from drastically different roms, like Froyo to Eclair, I would recommend against it. It may work or it may not. I have had it work a vast majority of the time. Its a lifesaver.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. I'm talking about Froyo to Froyo. I understand about the Eclair and Froyo thing.
Thank you very much for your help.
God bless you!
muyoso said:
Yea, you are restoring the entire previous rom. You need to do everything up until the point where you used to restore, and then go down to Advanced restore instead. Select the backup that you made the backup of. Select data. Let it do its thing. It will restore all of your apps and settings and app data to the NEW rom that you flashed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I want to say thank you once more. I've reflashed everything like you said and right now it works like a charm.
God bless you!

how to do a Nandroid back up is it the same as Titanum back up?

I m about to switch Roms ( from Unleashed Ultra to Unleashed Darkk R3)
to to a back up do i use Titanium back up or How do i do a Nandroid ?
Is it the same??
No, Titanium backs up your apps and settings, which you should do. After that, boot into recovery, if on clockwork, select backup, which backs up your rom as it is, apps, settings, ect. If on amon_ra, leave the first 3 things checked, then add whatever else. The wipe your factory/data, cache, and dalvik. After flashing the rom, load up titanium and restore your apps and data, not system settings.
Also, nandroid = backup; they're the same. The backup is just called nandroid on amon_ra.
First off, you will get flamed from many people for not doing your research. ALL of your questions have been answered HUNDREDS of times, and can all be found in the FAQ and stickies at the top of each forum.
to to a back up do i use Titanium back up
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Titanium Backup is used to back up your apps and app data. Download it from the market, hit batch, then backup all apps with data.
How do i do a Nandroid ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In recovery, hit Backup, then Backup.
Is it the same??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No.
My advice to you, if you dont know what a nandroid is, maybe you shouldnt be trying new roms just yet. If you dont know what you are doing, you could very well brick your phone.
sitlet said:
First off, you will get flamed from many people for not doing your research. ALL of your questions have been answered HUNDREDS of times, and can all be found in the FAQ and stickies at the top of each forum.
Titanium Backup is used to back up your apps and app data. Download it from the market, hit batch, then backup all apps with data.
In recovery, hit Backup, then Backup.
No.
My advice to you, if you dont know what a nandroid is, maybe you shouldnt be trying new roms just yet. If you dont know what you are doing, you could very well brick your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed.
You should really have a firm understanding of your rooted device before flashing anything. I wish everyone had to pass a test before being able to flash anything via recovery or Rom Manager.
plainjane said:
I wish everyone had to pass a test before being able to flash anything via recovery or Rom Manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be great
Sent from my Evo using mikfroyo 4.5

Nandroid Backup Question

So heres a noob question.
If I use (Rouge currently) to do a "backup" under options. And then start flashing ROMs, if I restore that backup I did, does that get me 100% back to the point of when I did the backup? Meaning, it restores -everything- like it never happened?
I've always wondered this, so if I'm flashing things, I can always get back to my fully stable setup exactly like it never happened by restoring? Or does the backup via Rouge( or CWM, or whatever ) only back certain things and I'll have to do more setup after restoring to get back up and running exactly like I had the phone before?
Sorry for the noob question, just want to make sure I got this straight.
It will restore everything 100%. You also have the option to restore other partitions separate, system, boot, and the most important , data.
Sent from a phone with kNOw CIQ ...
TeamERA said:
It will restore everything 100%. You also have the option to restore other partitions separate, system, boot, and the most important , data.
Sent from a phone with kNOw CIQ ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is what I assumed, thank you for the confirmation!
Here is a follow up question:
If I do a Titianium Backup for apps and sys data. Then I flash a new ROM, I usually do a Titanium restore of both Sys and App data ... It gets me up and running the quickest.
1.) Is this safe, or will sys data mess with the ROM
2.) Is there a better, more supportable way to do this?
RubenRybnik said:
Here is a follow up question:
If I do a Titianium Backup for apps and sys data. Then I flash a new ROM, I usually do a Titanium restore of both Sys and App data ... It gets me up and running the quickest.
1.) Is this safe, or will sys data mess with the ROM
2.) Is there a better, more supportable way to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1) It's always best NOT to restore system data when flashing a new rom. All your system data is specific to the rom you are flashing, so you don't want anything to conflict with the new data you are using now. Will cause a lot of problems in the long run.
2) TB is the best way to restore apps and apps+data that I know of. MyBackUp Pro is another good one, but TB works best for me. I'm sure there are others in the market also.
And I moved this to the Q&A section.
Well, this is what I thought too in fact I rooted my phone, installed CWM and the next step I performed was a nandroid backup thinking I could get my stock setup back if I ever wanted it. All was good. Then I flashed for a while and found a setup I liked and before proceeding I did another nandroid. THEN a while later I got to a point were I found myself, for time purposes wanting to fall back to my second backup so I thought: "hey, lets try restoring from this nandroid file I so maticulously spent time creating"!
That's when, for me at least, this whole nandroid Backup/Restore exercise falls on its face. Because when I tried to restore the backup I made it gave me a MD5 error..and I know there's a workaround that you can use by modifying the file I think that's basically what your doing? I didn't try it, I figured if the file needed to be modified before it could be restored what was the point anyway.? I just used my plan B which was Titanium Backup.
Anyway I keep my eyes open for an answer to this mystery, I think it has to do with the different CWM versions from one ROM to the next? Still not sure though?
Oh and hopefully this post wont just get rudely deleted like my first post on the same subject did? I made the same mistake you have by posting in the "General" area instead of the Q&A section!
the only time I have had a Android fail for md5 was when I changed the name of the backup. so maybe that's what you did?
RubenRybnik said:
So heres a noob question.
If I use (Rouge currently) to do a "backup" under options. And then start flashing ROMs, if I restore that backup I did, does that get me 100% back to the point of when I did the backup? Meaning, it restores -everything- like it never happened?
I've always wondered this, so if I'm flashing things, I can always get back to my fully stable setup exactly like it never happened by restoring? Or does the backup via Rouge( or CWM, or whatever ) only back certain things and I'll have to do more setup after restoring to get back up and running exactly like I had the phone before?
Sorry for the noob question, just want to make sure I got this straight.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have done many restores and everything comes back just like it was before.
---------- Post added at 12:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:28 PM ----------
RubenRybnik said:
Here is a follow up question:
If I do a Titianium Backup for apps and sys data. Then I flash a new ROM, I usually do a Titanium restore of both Sys and App data ... It gets me up and running the quickest.
1.) Is this safe, or will sys data mess with the ROM
2.) Is there a better, more supportable way to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only use Titanium backup to backup and restore specific apps on my phone. I use CWM for the system.
patrao_n said:
the only time I have had a Android fail for md5 was when I changed the name of the backup. so maybe that's what you did?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope. I followed step by step...pretty hard to mess it up with qbking77 video's? Is there any other possible reason, you can think of?..and really, how many people test out thier restores? I'm just wondering?
Just one quick point of clarification regarding the Nandroid backup/restore. From what I've read, the restore will bring back your kernel and ROM but NOT the modem version. If the modem is important to you you'll have to flash that back separately.
Magicspell said:
Just one quick point of clarification regarding the Nandroid backup/restore. From what I've read, the restore will bring back your kernel and ROM but NOT the modem version. If the modem is important to you you'll have to flash that back separately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good point ... Thanks to everyone for the replies, got a much better understanding on the backup/restore process in both cwm and titanium now ) Thanks!
One more question about the MD5 ... So you can not change the name of the backup of CWM? I didn't think name change would effect how MD5 is generated.
RubenRybnik said:
Here is a follow up question:
If I do a Titianium Backup for apps and sys data. Then I flash a new ROM, I usually do a Titanium restore of both Sys and App data ... It gets me up and running the quickest.
1.) Is this safe, or will sys data mess with the ROM
2.) Is there a better, more supportable way to do this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can also use your latest nandroid back up to restore data. I just tried this as a test with my wife's phone (i also did a separate back up in TB just in case) and it works well.
She was on one of Calks ROMs, and I wanted to switch her to the bare version of the ROM. I wiped data/cache/dalvik, installed the bare rom and rebooted. Once booted, I verified everything was gone (apps, contacts, sms, settings, ect). Then I went back to CWM and went to back up and restore->advanced restore-> restore data. When I booted back up, all her apps, contacts, sms, settings were back. I guess this would be a quick and dirty way to restore your stuff when jumping between a lot of ROMS.
s9amme said:
You can also use your latest nandroid back up to restore data. I just tried this as a test with my wife's phone (i also did a separate back up in TB just in case) and it works well.
She was on one of Calks ROMs, and I wanted to switch her to the bare version of the ROM. I wiped data/cache/dalvik, installed the bare rom and rebooted. Once booted, I verified everything was gone (apps, contacts, sms, settings, ect). Then I went back to CWM and went to back up and restore->advanced restore-> restore data. When I booted back up, all her apps, contacts, sms, settings were back. I guess this would be a quick and dirty way to restore your stuff when jumping between a lot of ROMS.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So just to be clear ... "Restore Data" in CWM is just Apps and Apps data, no system data is restored correct?
RubenRybnik said:
So just to be clear ... "Restore Data" in CWM is just Apps and Apps data, no system data is restored correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes on apps and data.

Flashing roms

Hi everyone,
I got a question. Is it a must to wipe before flashing a rom? For example, I'm on a rom and i want to flash another rom. Why is it a must to wipe it? What happens if I don't wipe it and flash a new rom?
Kind regards,
Semih
Its not a must but its highly recommended if you don't sometimes you'll get bootloops, sometimes you'll get random crashes and apps not working or you could get very lucky and everything might work fine. You should at least wipe the /cache partition, you won't lose any data.
semihsikier said:
Hi everyone,
I got a question. Is it a must to wipe before flashing a rom? For example, I'm on a rom and i want to flash another rom. Why is it a must to wipe it? What happens if I don't wipe it and flash a new rom?
Kind regards,
Semih
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if you are on the same rom and the dev updates then most of the times no it is no need to update. if you are trying different roms though then yeah best to do is wipe. if you go into ARHD thread in the first page there is a script called superwipe. download that and flash it before you flash a new rom and that will do all the wipes for you. or just do it the old fashion way in recovery and reason why to wipe sometimes so you do not have old system data from previous roms
NoobTerminator said:
if you are on the same rom and the dev updates then most of the times no it is no need to update. if you are trying different roms though then yeah best to do is wipe. if you go into ARHD thread in the first page there is a script called superwipe. download that and flash it before you flash a new rom and that will do all the wipes for you. or just do it the old fashion way in recovery and reason why to wipe sometimes so you do not have old system data from previous roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also make sure 100% you have your Rom on your sd as you can't mount sd in recovery and after running there is no system.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
treebill said:
Also make sure 100% you have your Rom on your sd as you can't mount sd in recovery and after running there is no system.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And also a backup..that is the most important thing...went through a lot of threads that i read and most of the people on some threads ask on how to restore using RUU cause they do not have a backup of their stock rom..So please always make a backup my friend
It's not. They call that a "dirty flash". I've never done it but I've heard that it's not advised.
I want to flash a new rom, but i don't want to use titanium backup to restore my apps, thats to much time. And if I wipe it, my settings will lost. So, i don't want to do it. But it seems that I have to do it, otherwise i'll get some errors and bootloops etc. I thank you all for your fast reply. I'll wipe my phone
A nandroid backup. If I do it while on the old rom, can I restore it on the new rom? not an updated rom, just another rom of another developer..
semihsikier said:
I want to flash a new rom, but i don't want to use titanium backup to restore my apps, thats to much time. And if I wipe it, my settings will lost. So, i don't want to do it. But it seems that I have to do it, otherwise i'll get some errors and bootloops etc. I thank you all for your fast reply. I'll wipe my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
contacts you can save them if you have a google account my friend. regarding backing up apps with Titanium backup if you have the Pro version it is all a matter on a few clicks. so my advise would be get it if you do not have the Pro version
semihsikier said:
A nandroid backup. If I do it while on the old rom, can I restore it on the new rom? not an updated rom, just another rom of another developer..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah thats fine, I usually flash the old rom first then restore the backup when coming from cm9 or miui to stock to avoid bootloops etc.
NoobTerminator said:
contacts you can save them if you have a google account my friend. regarding backing up apps with Titanium backup if you have the Pro version it is all a matter on a few clicks. so my advise would be get it if you do not have the Pro version
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I have the pro version, thats not a problem. Ok, I'm going to wipe it for the safety. Thanks a lot
semihsikier said:
Yes, I have the pro version, thats not a problem. Ok, I'm going to wipe it for the safety. Thanks a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no problem mate

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