Develop Bugs

[Q] Xfer all needed stuff to new phone??

Hi all - I freaking love these forums, you guys are awesome. What a great community here.
I searched the forums for a walkthru of setting up a new phone from the old one; if it's here somewhere and I missed it, feel free to just point me to it and I'll manage it from there.
So I'm just getting my new AT&T GS III probably today, replacing my stone-age Captivate. I've done a BIT of hack work on the Captivate, it's rooted etc with firmware v2.2, build Froyo.UCJI6. I've got Titanium Backup Pro v5.7.3 running currently. My question is regarding backing up and restoring my settings, market purchases, contacts, saved games (important!!), etc onto my new S III.
For backing up, is it simply a matter of running the batch "backup of all user apps + system data" on the Captivate (which I do weekly), then copying over all the backup files to my removable SD? As long as I run a backup of all apps/data so I just take the files with today's mod date? If I need them all, is there any easy way to batch copy ALL of the files to my SD rather than taking a half-hour to select/deselect the files I need on my tiny Captivate screen?
My bigger concern is that the restoration goes OK on the S III, as they have different versions of the OS. In the Titanium prefs, there are a TON of settings so I'm don't know what I need to focus on or if it's all set to 'auto-pilot' restore on a new phone. I assume I have to first root and then install Titanium on my new phone, just not sure what to do from there? (BTW, can I do a fully-functional restore on the free version of Titanium with my paid version backups? Or do I need to purchase it again on my new phone?)
Thanks in advance, I LOVE this place!!
Tom

teebob2000 said:
Hi all - I freaking love these forums, you guys are awesome. What a great community here.
I searched the forums for a walkthru of setting up a new phone from the old one; if it's here somewhere and I missed it, feel free to just point me to it and I'll manage it from there.
So I'm just getting my new AT&T GS III probably today, replacing my stone-age Captivate. I've done a BIT of hack work on the Captivate, it's rooted etc with firmware v2.2, build Froyo.UCJI6. I've got Titanium Backup Pro v5.7.3 running currently. My question is regarding backing up and restoring my settings, market purchases, contacts, saved games (important!!), etc onto my new S III.
For backing up, is it simply a matter of running the batch "backup of all user apps + system data" on the Captivate (which I do weekly), then copying over all the backup files to my removable SD? As long as I run a backup of all apps/data so I just take the files with today's mod date? If I need them all, is there any easy way to batch copy ALL of the files to my SD rather than taking a half-hour to select/deselect the files I need on my tiny Captivate screen?
My bigger concern is that the restoration goes OK on the S III, as they have different versions of the OS. In the Titanium prefs, there are a TON of settings so I'm don't know what I need to focus on or if it's all set to 'auto-pilot' restore on a new phone. I assume I have to first root and then install Titanium on my new phone, just not sure what to do from there? (BTW, can I do a fully-functional restore on the free version of Titanium with my paid version backups? Or do I need to purchase it again on my new phone?)
Thanks in advance, I LOVE this place!!
Tom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did the whole transfer-of-backups process when I got my current device, migrating over from an even more ancient device than your Captivate.
For the backup process, you could fairly easily tell TiBu to use the SD card for its backup storage - that would probably be the easiest way to get the backups in the right place for the move. Other than that, you could, for example, use ADB to pull the backups off of your phone, use one of the cloud storage services that TiBu Pro supports, or find a file manager app that lets you select everything readily (or even just the TiBu folder - one folder isn't that much of a stretch to move) and move it over to the card.
For the restore process, you want to be careful with exactly which system data settings you choose to restore, as - especially across major Android versions and across devices - restoring many of them will just confuse your device as opposed to doing anything useful. Most of the important things - such as your contacts (assuming you have it set to do that, which is the case by default) and market account purchases - aren't stored on the device, but associated with your Google account, so just logging back in with your account on the new phone will restore a lot of that information easily; in particular, this makes it extremely easy for TiBu to find its licence again (once it's on your device).
Hope that's of help

Don't backup system data with titanium, just the apps. I've had some luck backing up sms and WiFi passwords with titanium and restoring them on different roms, though you should use the xml backups (colored in yellow). Your contacts and market purchases should already be synced with your Google account, so if you use the same account on the new phone all of that data will follow.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

smelenchuk said:
For the restore process, you want to be careful with exactly which system data settings you choose to restore, as - especially across major Android versions and across devices - restoring many of them will just confuse your device as opposed to doing anything useful. Most of the important things - such as your contacts (assuming you have it set to do that, which is the case by default) and market account purchases - aren't stored on the device, but associated with your Google account, so just logging back in with your account on the new phone will restore a lot of that information easily; in particular, this makes it extremely easy for TiBu to find its licence again (once it's on your device).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply! Do I at some point in the backup or restore process have the option for which system settings are restored?
Also, I'm not sure my contacts are backed up online, is that with my gmail account? I don't think I ever explicitly set that up but I do check gmail on my phone. How can I tell whether it's linked up and already backed up online?
Thanks!

You can check your saved contacts here:
https://www.google.com/contacts/#contacts
When you select to restore in tb you will be given a list of apps/settings to restore. Un check any items that you don't want to restore before confirming the operation.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using xda app-developers app

Before I restore my Titanium backup to the new phone, do I have to have all the apps that have backed up data already installed on the new phone?

How to use Titanium Backup

Titanium Backup has been one of the most popular apps on the market for some time, and with good reason. It can be used to backup all your important app dada, system data, and even WiFi passwords on your handset.
Now, Android is a very stable operating system, and it’s pretty rare to run into a system or app killing bug. Even so, it’s better to be safe than sorry, you never know when a crippling update or malicious app might cause a problem. If you’re planning on removing apps using your newly found root permission or are planning to install custom versions of Android, then backing up your device is essential.
First things first, you’ll need a rooted handset before you can use Titanium Backup. Following that the app will need to be granted root permissions on your handset, but that’s simple enough. You’ll be prompted by Superuser once you run Titanium Backup, and can select to give it permanent access so you won’t be prompted again.
One word of caution before we proceed. If you’re using Titanium Backup to restore apps in between installing ROMs DO NOT attempt to restore system apps or their data across ROMs, as this will cause all sorts of crashes. Individual apps work fine, but system data will be incompatible.
Now that everything is setup we can begin.
Performing a mass backup
At first glance, Titanium Backup doesn’t appear to have the friendliest looking interface, the black and grey theme could certainly use a makeover. But don’t let that put you off, everything you need is actually very easy to find.
Frustratingly though, probably the most useful tool for performing a mass backup is actually hidden in another menu, rather than on the Backup/Restore tab where you’d think it would be. Instead, click the Menu button on your handset, and then select the “Batch actions” option under the “General” section, it should be the second option on the list.
Batch actions can be accessed from your devices menu button, or via the icon in the top left of Titanium’s home screen.
Batch actions can be accessed from your devices menu button, or via the icon in the top left of Titanium’s home screen.
The all-important backup section is located right here, giving you a wide variety of options regarding app and system data. System data includes Bookmarks, WiFi information, calendar events, etc. If you’re performing a backup for the first time then want to use the “Backup all user apps + system data” option, or at the very least the “all user apps” function. Clicking “Run” will present you with several more options to refine exactly what you’d like to backup. Once you’re satisfied with the selection, tap the green tick in the top right to begin the backup.
Patience is the key here as this can take a while, especially if you have lots of large apps installed.
If you’ve performed backups in the past and simply want to make a backup of newer apps you’ve installed recently, the “Backup new user apps” option on the “Batch actions” menu is the best choice. Alternatively, you can use the “Backup/Restore” tab on the Titanium homepage to select individual apps to backup.
Creating a recovery backup .zip file
Whilst the above backups will protect you from most bugs, they won’t be of much use if you experience a severe error that prevents your device from booting properly, such as corruption in a system file, or a bugged out launcher. This is where recovery compatible .zip files come in handy, as the backup can be restored without having to boot into Android. However, this is a donate version only option, but might be worthwhile if you’re changing ROMs a lot.
Head on over to the batch options again and scroll down until you see the “Recovery Mode” category. Here you can select the apps that you’d like to include in the backup .zip file, choose between apps or data only, and name the .zip file appropriately so that you can remember what it is.
If you ever need to recover your device using this boot file, enter ClockworkMod recovery and choose install zip from SDCard.
Scheduled backups
Generating a backup every time you install a new app is a bit of a pain, and it’s unlikely that anyone will remember to make a backup every week or month anyway. Fortunately, Titanium Backup now includes a scheduled backup option.
Over on the main menu tap the “Schedules” tab and you’ll be presented with two options. The first choice labelled “redo backups for modified data” will schedule backups only for app data which have been changed since the last backup. This could include games or changes make to specific app data.
The schedule has plenty of options to control automatic backups, so you don’t have to mess around with Titanium regularly.
The schedule has plenty of options to control automatic backups, so you don’t have to mess around with Titanium regularly.
The second option is probably the most important, as it will backup any new apps, system data, and updates since the previous update. Click “edit” to make changes to the schedule. There are all the necessary options to adjust the time and date of when backups are generated, but users can also set the charge state of the device required before making a backup, so as to prevent shutdowns mid backup, and there’s also a choice regarding filters and what to do once the backup has completed.
Restoring from backup
Alright, you’re protected in case your handset suffers a minor meltdown, but the next important step is being able to restore your apps and settings should anything go wrong.
In the batch actions, yet again, you’ll find a list of options for mass restoring your data. “Restore missing apps with data” will replace any content that is missing from your handset after a wipe. Alternatively restoring all apps with data will replace any existing apps with the backed up versions of them created earlier. There’s also a rather helpful option to only restore newer versions of user apps if you’re reinstalling your system.
However, the option that’ll you’ll most likely be interested is the “restore missing apps + all system data” option, which will put everything back to where it was when you created the backup. Although I can’t stress enough, that system data shouldn’t be restore if you’re switching ROMs.
Batch and individual restores can both be performed. There are also some additional commands when looking up the options for each app.
Batch and individual restores can both be performed. There are also some additional commands when looking up the options for each app.
If you discover that a specific app has developed a fault, say after a bugged update, and you want to restore it to a previously saved version, then this can be done by clicking on the backup/restore option on the main page. Here you can pick the specific app or piece of data from the list. Once tapped, a list of backups will appear along with a list of other functions to create backups, etc. Here you can manage your individual app backups, or can restore the app to a specific date by clicking on the corresponding restore button.
Managing bloatware
Whilst looking at the specific apps you’ll probably have noticed the Freeze function. Freezing apps is a handy tool that will allow you to completely stop apps from running without having to uninstall them. Usually this is used on factory installed apps that you don’t want to use. This option is a paid for only function, but it’s very helpful if you want to stop an irritating tasks from running or to see how your handset will react before uninstalling a piece of software.
Root permission also means that Titanium Backup can be used to uninstalled unwanted apps and bloat ware. A word of caution before doing this with any pre-installed software, uninstalled essential apps can cause force close errors and even render your handset virtually unusable if not done with care, so I thoroughly recommend backing up your apps and system first, preferably with a recovery zip file too.
Special features
That’s the really important stuff out of the way, but Titanium backup includes plenty of additional advanced features if you want to make the most out of your backups.
Firstly, backup data can be imported from by going to Titanium’s main menu and scrolling down to the import backup option. So you don’t even need to store all your backups on your handset, the files can easily be moved back and forth from your PC to your phone.
Slower compression will save on storage space, but be prepared to wait a little while while backups are performed.
Slower compression will save on storage space, but be prepared to wait a little while while backups are performed.
If you’re short of internal memory storage, there’s also the option to move apps to the SD card. However, this will cause certain apps to malfunction, so it’s only recommended to use on software which don’t integrate closely with any other part of Android, such as games.
Titanium Backup features many more options under the configurations menu, including tweaks to the type of compression used to create backups, the maximum number of backups to keep for each app, and whether or not to store market links for apps. In fact, apps can even be disconnected from the marketplace, so automatic updates can be left on for apps but then manually disconnected for certain apps, if you so desire.
Cloud backups
An extra feature for those who purchase the PRO edition is the ability to send backup data to various online services, including Dropbox and Google Drive. Although not essential, these options are very helpful if you need to wipe your SD card, or if your SD card ever develops a fault. To enable syncing to one of these services, tap your phone’s menu button and then go to “Preferences”, the options are under “cloud sync settings”.
And that concludes our guide on Titanium Backup. Hopefully that’s everything you need to protect your handset from unexpected faults.

How do I get Titanium Pro to backup Torque user screens?

I'm trying to backup all of the Torque Realtime screens because of the time it takes to make them but it's not working! Does Titanium Pro really backup "User Data" which I would assume that these screens would be??
Someone here has to have done this if they have these 2 apks and backed Torque up using Titanium Pro! Any help much appreciated. It must be in one of the Backup or Restore settings but I can't figure out which one!

In the Preferences of Titanium, tap on Backup settings, and put a tick in the Backup app cache box. Make sure the folder you're saving the backup files to is empty, and then do a backup, but just the Torque app. only.
You then copy that entire folder with what Titanium has saved for Torque to your new device, install Titanium Pro on it, go into Preferences, Restoration settings, and ensure a Tick in the box next to Migrate system data. Then, restore the app. and it should come back the way you had it on your donor device.

@djshotty , very much appreciate your response. Am trying your method now but need to know which 'batch actions' to 'restore' listing to use. I've been using "Backup all user apps" to backup and I've been using "Restore all apps with data" and then 'Deselecting all' and only selecting Torque and then do the Restore. Where, except what you mentioned, have I been doing wrong???
Just finished testing and still the same problem. I did a backup, ticking places you mentioned using a new empty folder, and then did a restore(of Torque only). It looked the same....BUT I next erased one of the PIDs on one of the screens. Then without doing another backup, I restored that same backup and what I erased is now gone. In other words, the backup should have restored the screen the way it was backed up!...must be another 'tick box' that I have ticked or don't have ticked that needs to be. One other thing, I don't have any scheduled backups set so they don't change my testing while trying to find what the problem is. Thanks for helping!

On the Batch actions - ALL screen, Run the Backup all user apps + system data, then Deselect All, scroll down to find Torque, put a tick in the box, tap the green tick at the top right of screen and back it up.

djshotty said:
On the Batch actions - ALL screen, Run the Backup all user apps + system data, then Deselect All, scroll down to find Torque, put a tick in the box, tap the green tick at the top right of screen and back it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@djshotty apparently you aren't reading my post correctly. I have backed up Torque and stated in my post. I am not trying to migrate my settings to another unit as you mentioned. Titanium Pro should never change a backup once its been backed up. That's why one can do multiple backups. If I make a mistake and delete an app that's been backed up, Titanium can restore it. Why you are getting defensive? I have said nothing but that I have followed your instructions and they did not work. Titanium is not restoring my backup as it was when I backed it(Torque) up. Proof: I backup Torque and then make a change to Torque. I then restore Torque and the changes that I made are in the backup that gets restored!!! And that's without doing another BackUP...just Restore.
I'm just asking for help from anyone that uses Titanium Pro that can guide me to where in the settings that must be wrong to cause my problem. Thanks again for attempting to help!

djshotty said:
Mod edit: garbage removed from quote
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I almost peed my pants after reading this...lol
If the steps outlined are not working something must be wrong with the application installed, or a pebkac error... I too have used TB for years since since the HTC Incredible came out and have never had a problem when following these same steps. I have never known TB to change a previously created backup.

matt1981m said:
I almost peed my pants after reading this...lol
If the steps outlined are not working something must be wrong with the application installed, or a pebkac error... I too have used TB for years since since the HTC Incredible came out and have never had a problem when following these same steps. I have never known TB to change a previously created backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@matt1981m, instead of peeing in your pants, why don't you attempt what I have posted and then post that it works for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Its obviously changing my backup. If you use Torque, make a backup, go back into Torque and just change one easy PID on one of the screens by deleting the PID, and then restore your backup just for Torque and see if that PID is really still there where it was. Then post your reply! I'm not saying that Titanium Pro has the problem, I'm trying to find out why and how to fix my problem with Titanium's backup! I thought this site was for members to get help and to offer help to those that need it instead of making derogatory remarks about someone's problems with any app. If you check most of my post, you will find that I attempt to help others instead of criticizing them...

I apologize if you felt I was criticizing you. That was not my intention. I have torque pro installed and configured on my HU. I haven't had any issues, and I haven't specifically tried modifying the PID as you have mentioned, but I have used TB to restore settings for Torque Pro. I will be installing a SoM upgrade to a RK3188 in a couple days, depending on USPS, and I will update this thread at that time to share what results I have with the current versions of both apps.

matt1981m said:
I apologize if you felt I was criticizing you. That was not my intention. I have torque pro installed and configured on my HU. I haven't had any issues, and I haven't specifically tried modifying the PID as you have mentioned, but I have used TB to restore settings for Torque Pro. I will be installing a SoM upgrade to a RK3188 in a couple days, depending on USPS, and I will update this thread at that time to share what results I have with the current versions of both apps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks Matt, for your reply. I have been using Titanium for months without problems. But when changing one of the screens in Torque, NOT Modifying the PID, but deleting one PID or adding a PID, and then change my mind and want it back like when I backed it up, it restores the screen as I last modified it after the backup! Since I changed it, it's different than the backup. The backup should return the screen to when I backed it up. It does not! I will add that I never tried this before.......and I just used Malaysk's Lollipop ROM to upgrade from KItKat 4.4.4 to LP 5.1.1.....Thanks @Malaysk ,don't know that has anything to do with the problem. It appears, from the way that mine is doing, that Titanium is monitoring in the background and keeping my changes overriding the backup when they are different. I'm very new to the Android devices and have a very lot to learn about root and different apps. Please try when you get the SOM upgrade and duplicate what I tried and post results here. I use paypal and will pay for the solution to the problem if one exist! Thanks again

I jealous of the 5.1.1... that is why I am doing this SoM upgrade. I have a Sonata and only the RK3066 was available with the bezel for the car. The aftermarket bezels just looked cheap and I was looking for an OEM feel. No need to pay for a fix. If you feel inclined to do so, send beer/coffee money Malaysk's way.

matt1981m said:
I jealous of the 5.1.1... that is why I am doing this SoM upgrade. I have a Sonata and only the RK3066 was available with the bezel for the car. The aftermarket bezels just looked cheap and I was looking for an OEM feel. No need to pay for a fix. If you feel inclined to do so, send beer/coffee money Malaysk's way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will do, and thanks.....having no problems with 5.1.1.....but I don't have access to anything but wifi on the road, so no phone, no internet,,,,,just music, GPS, and off-line maps...bjut well worth it.

matt1981m said:
I jealous of the 5.1.1... that is why I am doing this SoM upgrade. I have a Sonata and only the RK3066 was available with the bezel for the car. The aftermarket bezels just looked cheap and I was looking for an OEM feel. No need to pay for a fix. If you feel inclined to do so, send beer/coffee money Malaysk's way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will do to Malaysk, and I'm having no problems with 5.1.1

DWilks said:
I backup Torque and then make a change to Torque. I then restore Torque and the changes that I made are in the backup that gets restored!!! And that's without doing another BackUP...just Restore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because Titanium replaces the files in the data folder with what it's stored away. If there are new files with different names containing the changes you've made to the app., they won't get overwritten.
I'm just asking for help from anyone that uses Titanium Pro that can guide me to where in the settings that must be wrong to cause my problem. Thanks again for attempting to help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Because of how Titanium does it's thing, there's no 'Setting' that will force it to overwrite the install folder's files when it hasn't actually got them stored away. When you make changes to the app.'s system files, they get changed from what Titanium backed up. You're asking to restore your old settings for Torque over the top of what you changed? Then go into your device's Settings menu, Applications, Application manager then delete all data for Torque and then uninstall it. Next, restore the app. from Titanium directly, and you'll be back where you were at the time you backed the app. up.

[Size=+1]Thread cleaned.
Stay respectful please. If you're having a problem with another member please use the report function and let us deal with it.
Thanks.[/size]

Save/restore /sdcard/.torque

I have the same issue. I've reset my phone and restored all apps using Titanium Backup yet the custom screens I had created for Torque, including my vehicle profile, weren't restored. My backups for all other apps and data restored fine, except Torque.

ShieldOfSalvation said:
I have the same issue. I've reset my phone and restored all apps using Titanium Backup yet the custom screens I had created for Torque, including my vehicle profile, weren't restored. My backups for all other apps and data restored fine, except Torque.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to help you on this problem ShieldOfSalvation. That was one of the most frustrating problems that I had and couldn't get an answer that worked. Those screens are a pain in the ass to have to keep making.
Here's a solution that worked for me: All of your screens & vehicle settings are located in a folder called ".torque" (without those quote marks) .torque . It's located in the "internal storage sdcard" as in this location "internal storage sdcard\.torque . That 'slash mark' might be flipped the other way...as in / instead of \...I don't remember which.
You need to copy the folder .torque WHILE YOU STILL HAVE YOUR SCREENS THAT YOU SET UP to an External device like the EXTERNAL SDCARD (GPS CARD if you have one). And then, after you have completed whatever upgrade or process that you have done that erases your "screens and vehicle settings" and goes to default, JUST COPY YOUR SAVED .torque FOLDER BACK TO IT'S ORIGINAL LOCATION AND OVER WRITE THE ONE THAT'S NOW THERE. You can also rename the .torque folder that's in the internal storage sdcard and paste the SAVED .torque folder there. If you don't make any changes to your screens very often, keep that .torque folder with your screens in a safe place and just copy and paste it over the default one. If and when you do make changes, make sure to recopy .torque folder and store it in a safe place .....that's it....Hope it works for you!

DWilks, if you're right, then when I get home tonight I should be able to restore that .torque folder because in addition to Titanium Backup Pro I also use SyncMe Wireless by bvaisoft to backup the entire internal SD card and external SD card (including my Titanium Backup archives) to a network hard drive on my LAN. In this case where TB Pro appears to have missed that folder, SyncMe should have saved my hide. It snapshots the entire SD card's files and folders. I will come back with results later.

SyncMe did backup my .torque folder in the internal SD card because I had it set to copy hidden files and folders nightly. After copying it back to my SD card from my network share backup location, I was finally able to see my vehicle profile again in Torque and my custom dashboard is back. Thanks, DWilks!

Missing back-up/phone locked/weird sd-card behaviour

Hi together,
just as a disclaimer, I don't really have knowledge in this field (custom roms etc), but I'm willing to learn and understand what is going on.
I have the Moto G5 as my daily phone with the unofficial lineage 17 from the xda-forum. It's not rooted. Now i saw that the g5 got official support for LOS18, so I wanted to upgrade. However, I had some important files on my phone, so I wanted to do a backup (with twrp), which i did on a different sd-card than the one I was using as storage. Or so i thought. The upgrade itself wasn't really a problem, at first i forgot to wipe the phone, but i realized right after the installation, wiped it accordingly to the instructions and did the installation again. The phone booted without a problem and everything seemed fine. I encrypted the phone accidently, i thought it was the lockscreen pin. But it wouldnt recognize the sd i used as storage on the previous version. Because i had pictures, music etc on the card, i wanted to restore my backup to use the phone as before. Well... to my surprise, on the sd i used to back up i couldn't find it, but strangely there were now two versions of a backup i made some months ago, only different in the timestamp (not the date) in their filename. I didn' know if one of them was the one i made, or if i had made two backups back in the days. I was confused, but i chose on of them at random and restored it. It seemed to have worked, it booted to the familiar lockscreen i set up a while ago. But then: it wouldnt accept the pin, even though i knew it was the right one - at least for the system i have used the same morning. I had to delete the lockpin.db (or how it was called) via twrp to acces the phone again. The former uncompatible storage sd now got recognized and worked, the phone showed all the apps i had before, i was still logged in in all of them etc. But: i made a photo, wanted to look at it in my gallery app, and i briefly saw my albums - then they vanished and only the photo i had taken was there. So now all the pictures, music are gone from the sd. Some funky things are different, the swipe directions for the "recent apps" and "back" buttons on the fingerprint sensor are switched and i cannot find the menu to change them. That's the story.
Here are my questions:
The backup i made - why wasn't it called with the proper date and time? Or have i deleted it somehow due to my wiping mistake? but it was on the sd... ?
I now assume i restored the old backup with a different lockscreen pin, and thats why the pin i thought was correct didn't work. But some apps which i hadn't installed at the time i made the backup where there and with all the recent data. Doesn't that mean the sd has some kind of image of the system or rather the apps themselves stored? but why are the pictures and the music gone? Is there any chancce to get it back? Can I upgrade to LOS18 and use the same sd as storage without the need to format it?
I'd like to learn what the mechanisms behind all these happenings are and would be glad if someone could explain it! Thanks in advance!

Twrp backups do no backup personal files - This includes music pictures and documents. These must be backuped up yourself to a pc, external device or the cloud.
TWRP backups do backup the following for example
System - your current rom
Data - apps and their data of your current rom, phone settings
Boot - Kernel
Never restore data on a different rom. The data contains apps and settings for your current rom and restoring this on a different rom will likely lead to a bootloop or an unstable device. This is why you had issues with passwords.
In regards to personal files - if you have formatted data of an encrypted device then it removes encryption and thus formats internal storage. Anything on this will be lost.
If you are changing roms you need to format data and then install everything again via the playstore (or manually via apk)
You can use 3rd party apps that backup apps and data but I advise against this as what it restore may be unstable on a different OS
As with the twrp date I assume twrp assigns the correct date. The file would be lost if you backup up to internal storage and your formatted data. I don't know what happened to it if you backed up to an external device.

Question Backup and transfer Data and Wifi/BT Settings

Hello,
since Titanium Backup which I used for years seems to not work anymore, I am now looking for any other possibilities to transfer my apps+app data and also some system settings like wifi passwords/APN data, BT connections and such.
With TB this was always well working for me.
What I have tried:
OAndBackupX -> I enabled "special backups" and tried to backup wifi, but sadly it just creates a new folder for the wifi backup (special.wifi.access.points) with a properties file. However the subfolder, where the backup should be present is empty.
So this solution doesn't seems to work, at least not on my phone with Android 8.
I also tried to do backups of some apps, however it looks a bit strange to backup an app that shows as 25mb and the base.apk which gets created for it is only 9mb (and no other file besides that, although everything was ticked for backup)
How is everyone here doing this when switching from one phone to another (especially for access point data and data of apps)?
Syncing wifi passwords to google cloud I somehow do not want (even if they're encrypted) and the issue with app+app data is still present then.

Annil said:
Hello,
since Titanium Backup which I used for years seems to not work anymore, I am now looking for any other possibilities to transfer my apps+app data and also some system settings like wifi passwords/APN data, BT connections and such.
With TB this was always well working for me.
What I have tried:
OAndBackupX -> I enabled "special backups" and tried to backup wifi, but sadly it just creates a new folder for the wifi backup (special.wifi.access.points) with a properties file. However the subfolder, where the backup should be present is empty.
So this solution doesn't seems to work, at least not on my phone with Android 8.
I also tried to do backups of some apps, however it looks a bit strange to backup an app that shows as 25mb and the base.apk which gets created for it is only 9mb (and no other file besides that, although everything was ticked for backup)
How is everyone here doing this when switching from one phone to another (especially for access point data and data of apps)?
Syncing wifi passwords to google cloud I somehow do not want (even if they're encrypted) and the issue with app+app data is still present then.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was the biggest pain in the ass. I tried plugging my old phone into the new phone but my old phone died midway through so I basically just started fresh. it sucks I have been doing it all last night and this morning and haven't finished. I did use sms back up & restore to get my text messages other than that everything is fresh and annoying.

No one else facing issues with backup/transfer? How is everyone transferring nowadays their appdata and access points and such? Really curious....
Got two phones here (Pixel 6 + Pro) waiting for transfers and I am still not sure how to accomplish completely...
Glad about any inputs!

A lot of people are recommending Swift Backup which is supposed to be the successor to Titanium Backup. I haven't tried it myself though.

If I understand correctly, Swift Backup also requires root to restore app data, network settings etc.

The best backup/restore solution I found was Google One's built in. It just works (albeit not as well as, say, iOS, and definitely not up to the level of Swift/Titanium). Without root, sadly, you won't have many options as you're limited to the APIs Google provides, which themselves are limited. Swift works this around by "manually" backing up all the files/folders for every app.

I do have google one, but sadly most apps I would require, get only backed up for the APK but not the data

Is Titanium Backup now deprecated for latest Android? I have Android10 on a car head unit with a very customised oem Launcher. I managed to root it with universal root from here and Magisk (Thanks). Titanium shows me all the installed apps and bloat with sizes - great!. I want to make a backup of an App in the oem system folder before deleting it. I seem to be able to create a backup on mnt/sdcard, but I can't delete the oem app?
I have 2 system folders, System\ and system (root). They appear mirrors of each other and if I go to system(root) /oem/app/*My bloat app, I can delete it with FX root file browser. But not if I go to folders inside System\. Is this something to do with how Magisk roots and can restore to non root by creating a mirror folder? I used TB to make a backup of this bloat app and it worked. But after deleting the app successfully with a file browser the TB backup folder was empty - is this normal? With one pre-installed (Russian!) nav app I didn't need or trust, I recovered 4.5Gb of memory with more oem apps to look at.
For now I can use TB to locate bloat apps I want to remove with a file browser but I really wanted to back them up first and delete from within the app. Is TB trying to delete from system\ where access seems denied, rather than system(root) where I can delete files with a root explorer? Any help appreciated - Thanks

TB is pretty much dead...
i started using Swift.. and also https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/...mate-app-manager-debloat-tool-tweaks.4147837/

Thanks, I was guessing that from the age of posts in this thread. I started off thinking I wanted a full Nandroid backup but that requires a customised TWRP partition and AFIK this car head unit with its OE launcher doesn't seem to follow the partition structure I'm used to in phones. It has 3 external USBs and I can't get it to do anything with adb and a pc connected. The USBs are only active towards the end of boot. However, their factory image and unversal root seems to get picked up with the same 'Upgrade' screen messages from the folder Isec_updatesh. I don't know what I'd do if I bricked it, although I have found the OE Boot.img file packed in their update folders.
Thanks for the link to bloat removal. Nandroid backup creates a full rom image whereas most other backup apps seem to only backup apks and not system files. Android car head units are heavily customised with many added hardware based peripherals so a full backup is important to me. Adb might offer a solution, but as I said, even in developer mode I can't get the USBs to talk to a pc which I assume is because there isn't the usual recovery mode, unless it's on button press combos I haven't found yet? There is a recovery to factory reset, but it's an option in their launcher so I'm guessing it's not in the usual Android recovery partition?

OK I took a quick look at ADB AppControl. First I need to establish an ADB link from PC and I'm struggling with that. Second it does what some other non-root apps do which is to hide the bloatware and stop them running when my objective is to take the 16Gb+ memory they filled from 32Gb and recover memory by deleting bloatware and apps I don't need. There's a tendency now to sell these Chinese car head units with all the GAPPS and many more pre-installed. Unfortunely, most require a mobile network connection to function. I'm not interested in their Satnav, Google maps, Facebook or other social media apps they threw in. The one thing going for me now is I'm running AFwall+ which is the best reason for rooting a Chinese sourced device to stop data leaks to them or Google.
As I ran their factory 'update' I could see all these apps getting installed. If I was clever enough to understand how the Android 10 install 'Manifest' (my words) worked, I would prefer to edit out entries for OE apps in their installer, if it was possible?