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I have an SD card with 3 partitions: fat32(7gB)/ext4(488mB)/swap(91mB). not sure what order I created them in, and not sure if that matters.
when I do a nandroid backup, is it also backing up my ext4 partition where my apps2sd apps are kept? I want to be able to use nandroid to swap between many different ROMS, but still have all my settings saved per ROM. And hopefully apps as well, whether it be by the nandroid restore or (and im not even sure if it works this next way im describing) by different ROMS being able to see the apps in apps2sd and use them?
Like I said, Im not sure how apps storage/location actually works. If I install apps on the sd card, and I put an upgraded or even a different custom ROM on, does the system see the apps on the new ROM? Or are we also supposed to wipe ext partitions as well?
Can someone let me know what "wiping" data and/or cache actually does? IS there a basic phone architecture doc I can read to see what data / cache actually is used for?
Wiping refers to the internal memory of the device. Not the SD.
By wiping you remove all settings and software installed on the device itself.
If you boot after a wipe, you will have to re-enter your google account information and wait for the sync to complete.
If you have apps2sd, (most of) your apps will be on the ext partition on your SD card. Those don't get deleted when you wipe. If you have go from 1 apps2sd capable rom to another, your apps will still be there. And the apps that store settings on the SD will have their settings saved too (only one I know of is gem-miner).
try bart
opticalc said:
I want to be able to use nandroid to swap between many different ROMS, but still have all my settings saved per ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend using a more complete back-up and restore tool like BART or Switchrom. Do a search for BART on the Dream Development forum and you'll find everything you need. It's built in to the latest RA recovery images as well and works great.
I want to delete the bloatware on my Vibrant. I have Root Manager and Titanium Backup. I tried backing up Sims 3, deleted it, but could only restore data, not the app. I deleted the Sims, but was able to get the .apk online. I want to delete the bloatware, but how do I back it up so I can restore it incase I need to. It seems I can only restore data, not the .apk file.
Any help appreciated
Just run the apks from your phone and they will install.
But the APKS wont be there if I delete them
You said you downloaded the apks correct? Just save them on your computer if you ever wanna play the Sims then simply put the apks on your phones sd card and run them from a file manager.
No, I downloaded only the Sims apk, the other apks are in the system on the phone. It won't let me move/copy them, so if I delete them, they'd be gone
I have both apks and I have deleted the Sims off my phone and reinstalled and works fine.
Yes, but I mean the other bloatware, such as Allshare or Amazon mp3, if I delete those APKs, how am I able to reinstall them
Ohhhh I see lol why would you want to reinstall them? The Sims 3 is the only thing I would consider keeping out of the garbage thats preloaded on the phone. Most of the bloat ware are useless trials anyway.
I mean for warranty purposes, I would need to unroot and reinstall it incase something happened
Well flashing the stock rom would be pretty easy and would restore everything except the sims which you have
Oh thanks
Puushiki said:
Oh thanks
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Click to collapse
Just be aware this will remove everything that is not stock, so if you have anything you downloaded from market or elsewhere, you need to back that up separately. There are two basic ways to back things up, to the SD card and to your computer. The SD card is not wiped like the internal memory card is when you wipe, so apk files will be safe there. There should not be anything preventing you from copying apk files, ensure that you are rooted.
A few questions:
1.Titanium Backup says that the default backup directory is sdcard/titaniumbackup. But when I go to my Folders, that folder is listed right there and not inside the SD folder (which I assum is the SD card). There is no sdcard directory. So is this folder really still on the SD card?
2.Also, all the apps that I have bought, must be backed up to the SD card as well? Or can I just redownload them whenever I need them?
3. Is there a way to create an "image" of the phone that will back up everything, including settings, homescreens, apps, etc?
Excelsius said:
A few questions:
3. Is there a way to create an "image" of the phone that will back up everything, including settings, homescreens, apps, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid, My Friend.
If you are unfamiliar with what nandroid is or how to use it just search the forums here for all the info you'll need. It's very simple to backup and restore your system.
Titanium will NOT backup system apps. It can only back up their data.
Clockwork recovery (nandroid) makes a copy of pretty much everything, but you don't have the option I believe of restoring individual components with ease the way you can with Titanium.
Each serves very different purposes.
1. There's the "sdcard" (internal storage), and the "sd" (external storage). The phone always stores things on the sdcard portion for data and such, so I've got in the habit of just storing images & video and new apk's to install on the sd card, but everything else goes on the sdcard (even music for me, because my playlists seem to get cleared if I don't do that). So yes, you should have a directory under sdcard called titaniumbackup (along with a directory called sd).
2. You're best bet is to back them up using Titanium Backup, but the Market will remember all your downloads including paid aps once you've signed into your Gmail account. Titanium Backup will also backup market links, but be sure you download the busybox version (click on the "Problems?" button on the Overview screen).
3. Nandroid pretty much will create an image backup. Titanium Backup will save everything, but for system apps, just the data is saved (and so long as you're not flashing all kinds of different ROMs, Titanium Backup should restore everything nice and tidy for you).
Excelsius said:
A few questions:
1.Titanium Backup says that the default backup directory is sdcard/titaniumbackup. But when I go to my Folders, that folder is listed right there and not inside the SD folder (which I assum is the SD card). There is no sdcard directory. So is this folder really still on the SD card?
2.Also, all the apps that I have bought, must be backed up to the SD card as well? Or can I just redownload them whenever I need them?
3. Is there a way to create an "image" of the phone that will back up everything, including settings, homescreens, apps, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Back when I had the G1 and always made a backup with nandroid. I could just go into the nandroid folder, find the current backup, then find the folder which had all the apks and just take the ones out that I wanted to. I had a reason for doing this, forgot why.
I don't know if nandroid still uses the folder structure on clock's recovery like it did on Armon(?)'s recovery in the G1. So, I'm not sure if it's still possible.
Is there a quick way to (re)install all my apps after changing ROMs?
Been using Pongster's awesome NAND HyperDroid build since v5 and have been upgrading along the way by reinstalling the data section from my CWM backup. Recently on v11 I started having a few glitches and upgrading to v12 only made matters much worse. I just want to start a fresh on v12, but is there a way quicker than writing down all my apps then selecting each from the market. Have looked in Android Market on using desktop PC and it only lists 11 apps. Thanks.
SheenaIsAPunkRocker said:
Is there a quick way to (re)install all my apps after changing ROMs?
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Click to collapse
I believe Titanium Backup Pro is the most popular choice, it can restore all your apps and data automatically, plus there's an option to repair missing market links.
That rom uses an ext partition, so as well as restoring the data partition after a fresh flash, if you also restore the sd-ext partition (same method), all your installed apps will be restored, complete with all their settings still in place, since you are restoring data too.
D'oh, and double d'oh. Thanks for the tips. I backed everything up using Titanium backup. Being running HyperDroid without an EXT partition so while I was in the process of installing v12 again, I thought I'd use the handy partition function in ClockworkMod. However, what it fails to mention is in re-partition my SD Card for me it would handily wipe everything Looks like I'm hosed now anyway!
nooOO!, hah, oh well, it happens, and theres no better learning curve than seeing mistakes in action.
I literally had the SD card in my desktop to copy everything on it, but before I did, I put the SD back into the phone to do something else ... never got around to doing that copy. At least phone numbers are backed up on Google (I hope!), but I guess I'll have to start again on Tower Raiders 2, that's the real loss!!
since you are at a fresh start, you COULD try reinstalling all the apps, and THEN restore the data partition, which (unless im wrong) holds settings? ,,though i know some stuff uses folders on the fat32 part of the sd card too, , so may not work, , worth a try if you're in an investigative frame of mind.
Hello,
I wonder if anyone know... What happens when let's say i have 9gb of data on my s2 and i want to backup it with nandroid? It should be possible to do this to sd card, but what if some apps are on phone and some on sd card? How backup then?
If i upgrade to a newer custom built rom, i them try to backup, wouldn't it restore the older backed up firmware? Or just apps and settings, but not rom itself?
Thank you,
Tomas
no one? did no one fill their phone and tried to backup? maybe there is a solution to backup to a computer?
execine said:
Hello,
I wonder if anyone know... What happens when let's say i have 9gb of data on my s2 and i want to backup it with nandroid? It should be possible to do this to sd card, but what if some apps are on phone and some on sd card? How backup then?
If i upgrade to a newer custom built rom, i them try to backup, wouldn't it restore the older backed up firmware? Or just apps and settings, but not rom itself?
Thank you,
Tomas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nandroid backups are an image of
/system
/data
/dbdata
(on CF-Root, not sure about original CWM) it also includes .android_secure, which is SD-stored apps.
I don't understand what you are asking.
If there is not enough space you obviously have to delete something.
BTW: data-partition is around 2,1GB and system-partition 500MB, so there is no way a single backup can use 9GB
Maybe I am not being very clear, sorry about that
Coming from an Iphone, i am looking for a total phone backup solution. Itunes backs up literally everything - your apps, music, photos etc. It's filled probably with 20gb of different data.
Question is if I have my phone filled with games, different apps which make let's say 10 gb (not that much counting in that one game may be up to 1 gb), so how do i backup this? To SD card?
What if I have 20gb of data , 10 of which are on phone, 10 on sd card, in this case i wouldn't be able to backup everything?
One more technical question about rom upgrades. Currently i installed Villain Rom and have a backup made with nandroid. When i upgrade to a newer Villain Rom 1.5 or whatever comes out and I do the restore, i suppose it will restore 1.4 rom version with it's all apps and settings?
In this case, how do i backup only accounts, contacts, sms , apps, photogallery but not rom itself?
Sorry for all those questions, but i'm reading the forum all over, and there's still hundreds of questions i'm looking to find answers, so that i could comfortably migrate from iphone to galaxy..
execine said:
Maybe I am not being very clear, sorry about that
Coming from an Iphone, i am looking for a total phone backup solution. Itunes backs up literally everything - your apps, music, photos etc. It's filled probably with 20gb of different data.
Question is if I have my phone filled with games, different apps which make let's say 10 gb (not that much counting in that one game may be up to 1 gb), so how do i backup this? To SD card?
What if I have 20gb of data , 10 of which are on phone, 10 on sd card, in this case i wouldn't be able to backup everything?
One more technical question about rom upgrades. Currently i installed Villain Rom and have a backup made with nandroid. When i upgrade to a newer Villain Rom 1.5 or whatever comes out and I do the restore, i suppose it will restore 1.4 rom version with it's all apps and settings?
In this case, how do i backup only accounts, contacts, sms , apps, photogallery but not rom itself?
Sorry for all those questions, but i'm reading the forum all over, and there's still hundreds of questions i'm looking to find answers, so that i could comfortably migrate from iphone to galaxy..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Regarding restoring only apps/accounts/etc but not the rom iteself, within cwm, in backup and restore, chhoose advanced restore and the restore data.
Im not certain whether it restores gallery or sms.i sync my photos via dropbox, and backup my texts seperately.
Sent from my GT-P1000 using XDA Premium App
So there is no unified backup solution for android? You would have to back up everything separately ?
execine said:
So there is no unified backup solution for android? You would have to back up everything separately ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's fairly simple:
Nandroid for your ROM and user data that is on the PHONE and /data partition
For the /sdcard and /sdcard/external_sd, that's up to you to sort out... Perhaps back up the contents by connecting to your PC? Then copy the contents of the SD? That way you have your nandroid backup stored on the computer just in case
so then in case something goes wrong, i restore with nandroid and manually copy contents from PC and ALL of my phone's data (software, contacts, gallery etc) will be there?
execine said:
Coming from an Iphone, i am looking for a total phone backup solution. Itunes backs up literally everything - your apps, music, photos etc. It's filled probably with 20gb of different data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, now you have a phone that doesn´t hide everything from the user it shouldn´t be that hard to make a backup.
There are basically 4 interesting partitions on the phone:
system (about 500MB) - This holds more or less the whole Firmware. While it is technically just a partition on the flash-memory, it is used like a ROM in normal usage, so the only situation where something will be written on this partition is a firmware-upgrade.
data (about 2GB)- This partition holds all user-installed apps and their settings.
sdcard (about 12GB) - This is not really a sdcard. Instead it is a part of the internal memory, you can use it for example for media, documents, images etc., whatever you like. This partition can be accessed on your computer as a regular USB-storage, and you can do a backup of it the way you like, either simply copying everything, or using a backup-solution of your choice.
external_sd (optional) - This is the micro-sd-card you can put in your phone. Obviously you can use it for anything you like. This partition is also accessible as a USB-storage or you can use a simple USB card-reader to access it on your computer.
Usually all your applications and settings will be stored in the /data/-partition.
If you choose the Move-to-SD option in the application-manager, some parts of the application will be moved to the (internal) /sdcard/-partition, but all the user-data/settings still remain on the /data/-partition.
So the maximum space you need to backup all your settings and apps is under 3GB.
Now to the possibilities of a backup, and the importance of the different things.
A nandroid-backup will basically make an image of the /system/ and /data/ partitions (also a bit more, but that´s not really important).
Usually it will use the /sdcard/-partition, which actually is still in your phone.
If you restore a Nandroid-Backup your System will be in the exact state before the backup, including all applications with their settings (which also means contacts, e-mails, sms etc).
Obviously everything that has changed after the backup will be lost.
A restore well also restore the complete firmware from the backup.
A backup from Nandroid can only be restored on the same phone, with the same partitions.
The second possibility to make backups would be TitaniumBackup.
This program will store all your installed applications and their data.
Default it will store it on the internal /sdcard/, but it is probably more useful to change the path to the external_sd.
Everything in Android is an application, so this will also save all your settings.
During a restore TitaniumBackup simply reinstalls your applications and then restores their settings.
TitaniumBackup can restore your applications with any Firmware, and in theory even on other phones (it may not work with special System-apps but it surely works with most "user-apps")
So Clockworkmod is great if you want to play around with different firmwares, especially Custom ROMs.
You can install different ROMs, make a backup and very easy and fast switch between them.
For a "regular" backup TitaniumBackup is maybe the better choice, it can backup all your settings and applications and for example if a Firmware-update goes wrong simply restore anything.
There is no real need to backup the /system/-partition anyway, you can simply download the Firmware and flash it, there is no user-data on this partition.
sdcard and external_sd usually only contains media, which you probably have somewhere on your PC anyway, so there is no real need for a backup, maybe for the pictures and videos you make with your phone, but again you should copy this on your PC regularly anyway. And if you want you can easily copy everything on it as well.
What if I have 20gb of data , 10 of which are on phone, 10 on sd card, in this case i wouldn't be able to backup everything?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Question is if I have my phone filled with games, different apps which make let's say 10 gb (not that much counting in that one game may be up to 1 gb), so how do i backup this? To SD card?[/quote]
Apps can´t be several GB in size on Android. Normally you have only around 2GB for Apps, if you use the App2SD-feature it can be expanded a bit.
If applications need a lot of data, for example like navigation-programs or games, they will download this on the first start and store this on the /sdcard/-partition.
As I said, you can access this easily like a removable drive and copy everything you like.
It isn´t also that important to make a backup of this, as it can be downloaded again anytime, and if something goes wrong it usually will mess up your system and don´t influence the data-partition anyway (well as long as you don´t repartition the whole memory)
Thank you, that does explain a lot!
I connected my S2, but i can't see to find any installed apps browsing through USB, or i shouldn't be seeing that?
Tomas
execine said:
Thank you, that does explain a lot!
I connected my S2, but i can't see to find any installed apps browsing through USB, or i shouldn't be seeing that?
Tomas
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, they are stored in /data
You back that up using nandroid, then you restore it via nandroid and they will be there. What you see on your PC via USB is the "internal SD".
Understood, thank you. Things getting more clear after a week of reading and using the phone ))
Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk
execine said:
I connected my S2, but i can't see to find any installed apps browsing through USB, or i shouldn't be seeing that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you see the (internal) /sdcard/ partition and (if present) the /external_sd/ (the MicroSD-card you have in your phone)
To simply backup your applications, the easiest way is TitaniumBackup.
This will store the .apk and settings for each up in a folder of your choice (on /sdcard/ or /external_sd/, as you usually have no direct access to the other partitions)
You can copy this folder on your PC, or even in the TitaniumBackup-folder of another phone and use it there.
There are several advantages using TitaniumBackup to save your Apps over CWM-recovery. You can use it with the enabled phone for example, and also just restore individual Apps, if you like.
Hello all.
I would like some information on switching from an SD version of Android (on AmeriCan Android on SD atm) to a NAND version (likely AmeriCan Android NAND as well) and still keep my user account and information apks, everything the same? I'm coming from WinMo as my primary phone OS, then tested out WP7 for a while, so I have HSPL and MAGLDR installed. I was switching out SD cards between roms so I had a card dedicated to WP7 and one Fat32 for WinMo/SD Android. I later just set MAGLDR to boot straight to Android folder on the SD.
Can someone give me some pointers on how I can successfully accomplish this? I don't mind if it takes a bit of time/complication. I'm not very familiar with Android yet, so I'm not up on what would be the best Backup/restore methods or anything of the like atm. Also should I keep MAGLDR or switch to some booter more Android friendly?
Any help is appreciated,
D ;-)
You'd be fine keeping MAGLDR.
Titanium Backup is great for backing up and restoting your apps and app data.
Your contacts and calendar appointments are synced to your Google account, and really the only other thing you'll have to set up is your email accounts and your launcher preferences.
When switching to a NAND ROM, one thing to consider is partitioning your SD card with a 1gb ext3/4 partition for the use of A2SD or Data2SD, which will give you much more room for many more apps in Android.
Running out of internal memory isn't usually a big deal on SD builds because alot of them come with a 1gb data.img, but that's not the case with NAND. But with a 1gb partition and a A2SD enabled ROM, you'll never run out of space, your phone will run smooth even with hundreds of apps.
Just make sure to install the correct size CWM partition setup before flashing your new ROM.
WooHooo!!!! 800th post!!! Hooray for me!!
Thanks huggs. That was very helpful information. And from the sounds of it pretty simple stuff. Btw congratz on the posting accomplishment! ;-)
I have a few questions sparked from that info. Firstly what's a CWM partition? Second, when I backup with titanium will it save my system preferences as well? If not what will? I go through and make a lot of micro adjustments to stuff, and being that I'm basically going back to the same rom, can I keep my system setup while switching? Edit: Also meant to ask about SMS/MMS? Those are very important to me, will they be backed up as well?
DemonLoader said:
Thanks huggs. That was very helpful information. And from the sounds of it pretty simple stuff. Btw congratz on the posting accomplishment! ;-)
I have a few questions sparked from that info. Firstly what's a CWM partition? Second, when I backup with titanium will it save my system preferences as well? If not what will? I go through and make a lot of micro adjustments to stuff, and being that I'm basically going back to the same rom, can I keep my system setup while switching? Edit: Also meant to ask about SMS/MMS? Those are very important to me, will they be backed up as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM partition is the size of partitions that your NAND space will be divided into when you flash your ClockWork Mod Recovery.
The recovery you download will come with a flash.config file, you can open it with a text editor and change the partition sizes to the correct sizes listed in the thread of the ROM you wish to install, or you can search for the HD2 NAND toolkit, which is a graphical program that makes it easy to set your partition sizes and flash CWM.
As far as micro system settings, I don't know of any way to back those up when going from SD to NAND build, but on the upside, when you backup a NAND build in CWM, EVERYTHING down to the finest detail is backed up, and can be restored anytime.
For your SMS and MMS messages, there are programs in the Android market that can backup and restore your messages, but I have never used any of them, so I can't say which is the best. I guess the one that's free would be the best for me, but thats just because I'm a cheapskate
Titanium Backup will only restore your apps, and the data related to your apps. It takes a bit of getting to know how it works too, it's not super complicated, but it's not super simple either. Google will be very helpful on that one.
For your info I just swapped from Tytung's SD build to his NAND, his advice was to run the batch operation in titanium, for all system data and apps then restore using the similar batch operation in the new build.
It all worked fine, just remember to add the titanium .apk to your ROM zip before you flash it, so you have the means to restore your system before google account is connected.
This was swapping between the exact same ROM version.
Thank you very much for all the help, I greatly appreciate it. After a couple days playing with it trial and error, I got it down for moving from the SD to the NAND. I'll admit too that I almost had a heart attack for a while when I didn't know titanium would actually backup my contacts and settings, and deleted the copy I made with my backup accidentally.
boomboomer, i did it almost exactly that way, except for the titanium.apk, Next time I'll know that for heads up.
Again thanks for the help! Now I just have to figure out how to make CWMr work with roms that install from DFT.exe