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I have read MANY threads, hunderds of pages.. I have rooted my phone... (the hard way, Thanks Toast) and I still really dont "GET IT.."
I would love a white board on the components of the whole process.. including titanium backup..
Meaning a writeup, showing each part of the system, and a paragraph on what it does..
Us Droidnoobs would really like to understand how this works from a high level... (or maybe I just belong on a short yellow bus...lol)
I just dont get what is required for each part, and what it affects..
NandUnlock: What does this do for us?
Engineering SPL: What is this?
Clockwork: ( i loved the movie.. but don't get how it pertains to the phone)
But seriously.. I dont know what is is, so how can I pick from the 2 avaiable?
Recovery: What parts of things dose this include? What is its function?
Nandroid back up: Do i need this and Titanium BK? Which will do what?
I want to figout how to back up my EVO and install new roms, and then re populate all my settings and data.. i use exchange, so i don't care about emails and contacts, but i have other email (pop) accts, that i want the accounts and preferences retained..
I have to root my bosses phone later today, and was wondering if i can do it with out it being activated? I was gonna get it rooted, and then activate it on Monday when I see him..
I'm by far not the most knowledgeable person but I can answer some of your questions... Anyone that knows better please correct me and let me know.
NandUnlock: What does this do for us?
This is required to install custom ROMs. Without it, you could install signed ROMs from Sprint (ie: Engineering ROM or Stock ROM) but not custom ROMs (like Fresh, DC, Cyanogen...).
Engineering SPL: What is this?
The way I understand it's a ROM version before the Stock ROM that Sprint/HTC probably used to test the phone before release. We use it because it is special in that it allows us to unlock the NAND part (Sprint stock ROM does not allow this).
Clockwork: ( i loved the movie.. but don't get how it pertains to the phone)
But seriously.. I dont know what is is, so how can I pick from the 2 avaiable?
Err... Not sure picking what...? But Clockwork is a great recovery app that makes it easy to drop files on the phone even if it wont boot or install custom ROMs/updates whether they are signed or not. It also makes backing up your phone (everything including the ROM, AFAIK, I use it and very happy with it) a snap. It reboots your phone to do this.
Recovery: What parts of things dose this include? What is its function?
Recovery is a special part of your phone that is away from the operating system. The OS can't install on top of itself, so you need separate code to do it. It's also a tool for when the OS is broken/not functioning and doing diagnostics.
Nandroid back up: Do i need this and Titanium BK? Which will do what?
I should know more about nandroid... but don't really. I think it backs up the recovery part/hboot? Errr... someone help me on this one.
Titanium backup makes it easy to backup your paid apps and even stock/OEM apps that came from the mfr or carrier. It has other backup functions, too.
I want to figout how to back up my EVO and install new roms, and then re populate all my settings and data.. i use exchange, so i don't care about emails and contacts, but i have other email (pop) accts, that i want the accounts and preferences retained..
Can't think of how to do this off the top of my head. Does it store on SD card? I can't be sure. I think there's an option to store this information on the SD card, so that should work AFAIK.
I have to root my bosses phone later today, and was wondering if i can do it with out it being activated? I was gonna get it rooted, and then activate it on Monday when I see him..
I'm pretty sure you can I don't see any reason why not but I've never encountered that situation before...
Hope this is helpful.
Thanks..
anyone else have their views on my questions? or differences fro the above?
thanks in advance..
I need more info on the Nandroid back up please..
Clockwork and ArmonRA both provide the capability to BACKUP your ROM, referred to as Nandroid. I know there are some plus and - to each. You should get in the habbit of ALWAYS taking a nandroid backup before you try a new rom. Give yourself something to fall back on.
TB lets you backup applications and OS settings and restore them. It will relink your apps to the market, which other apps will not do.
You must be very careful restoring OS settings, as each rom is built differently. Setting in DC will not work in Fresh for instance. So you can use TB to restore all your apps quickly, but you should still do the configuration manually.
You can root a non activated phone, but I think the activation process can cause you problems. I would wait until it is activated.
Clockwork: ( i loved the movie.. but don't get how it pertains to the phone) But seriously.. I dont know what is is, so how can I pick from the 2 avaiable?
i use AmonRA. why? because it seems that the general rule of thumb is that clockwork is easier for us noobs, but if anyone has issues they are told to use RA. so, i just use RA. i used clockwork for a bit but have i switched to RA; it's really not much different interface. the only thing i wish RA would do would be to allow me to 'browse for the zip to be flashed'. (oh yeah in RA...press both up/down at the same time to go back a level)
i believe you can use clockwork and simply 'flashover to RA' as needed from within the running OS. it can flash RA or Clkwrk or old version. i had something happen last month and wasn't sure what i did...once i got RA working, i said screw it and stayed with it. Clockwork does have a nice interface designed to make it easier to test out new ROMs...RA does not have this. is it needed? not really.
Nandroid back up: Do i need this and Titanium BK? Which will do what?
i use both. when i'm doing a buch of tweaks or testing a ROM, i make sure to make a nandroid backup (think Norton Ghost for phones). i also use titanium, mainly for when i install a new ROM. it allows me to restore just the apps and their settings onto the new ROM. its not perfect but does get most things. you'll need to setup things like email, facebook, twitter, meebo logins, etc.
so, although i often take a nandroid and titanium backup at abotu the same time, they are used to restore slightly differently. nandriod is my 'oh crap, this is bad i want to get off this ride' and titanium is my 'sweet, now how do i get my apps back in place without manually installing and config'ing each and every one'
(make sure to read about 'user apps' vs 'system data' w/ titanium).
I want to figout how to back up my EVO and install new roms, and then re populate all my settings and data.. i use exchange, so i don't care about emails and contacts, but i have other email (pop) accts, that i want the accounts and preferences retained..
titanium will get most of this. but i always seem to have to some tweaking cause some app has been installed or whatnot since my last backup. oh...and the titanium paid version will install all apps w/o manual intervention.
enjoy.
Clockwork: ( i loved the movie.. but don't get how it pertains to the phone)
Use either Clockwork or Amon RA, will not make a difference. Clockwork is used in ROM Manager as default.
Recovery: What parts of things dose this include? What is its function?
Recovery (volume down + power) allows you to flash zip files (rom, radio, apps, whatever), do manual nandroid backup, wipe your device, etc. Clockwork and Amon RA are both recoveries that do essentially the same thing.
Nandroid back up: Do i need this and Titanium BK? Which will do what?
Nandroid backups EVERYTHING on your phone, all apps, data, including rom, radio and kernel. It can be accessed via recovery or via an app called ROM manager.
Titanium Backup allows you to backup all your apps and data. You may ask why would you want to use Titanium Backup if Nandroid backs up everything? When you flash a new rom, you can use Titanium Backup to restore all your apps. (Otherwise restoring via Nandroid will restore your old rom over your newly flashed one)
I want to figout how to back up my EVO and install new roms, and then re populate all my settings and data.. i use exchange, so i don't care about emails and contacts, but i have other email (pop) accts, that i want the accounts and preferences retained..
Search the Market for email backup. Your google account restores all your contacts anyways.
Quick addition for your pop3 accounts. You can actually use GMail to push all your pop accounts. this will retain all the settings for those accounts if you reflash a new rom. There is a tutorial on here somewhere on how to do that. The GMAil push lets you set up labels and seperate email folders for your different pop3's also, you can add labels through the web interface and they will show up on your phone automatically, providing of course you have them set up to sync.
Another quick comment on Nandroid, this is a carbon image of your phne basically, so if you flash a new rom and then do a nandroid it will restore your phone to exactly how it was when you did the backup. So it wont work as an app backup, because if you flash a new rom and use nandroid you will be completed reverted to the rom you were on when you backed up. Make sense? Use titanium or there is even a backup called "mybackup" in the market which works also, I personally use titanium but my backup is a one click everything backup. Although it does not restore your market links, which allow you to get update notifications for your market apps.
Hi!
I was a winmo user (samsung omnia) and I flashed the damn thing regularly, I mean like every week. So I had to reinstall everything from scratch. I don't want to be caught in that loop again, so I am asking you if it is possible to backup all my programs, data and settings and then just apply them after the flash.
Thank you very much, proud Legend user!
Backup contacts : hmm, you don't really have to do this, if you save your contacts on Google account, everytime you login to Google account on your phone, Contact list will be auto appear in People, even avatar pictures.
Apps : Use Astro File Manager to backup all apps in your phone, then flash another ROM, go to market to install Astro again, then backup apps from SD card.
Settings : hmm, I'm not sure you should do this, because everyrom is different, restore settings on this ROM to another ROM may damage your android. But you can always try Titanium Backup on Market.
Thanks! I am still wondering if I should flash because froyo is knocking on our doors.
slovenec88 said:
Thanks! I am still wondering if I should flash because froyo is knocking on our doors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah froyo is really close, right after the desire the EVO 4G got its OTA.
So I'm expecting the update within 14days I would say a week but that might be to optimistic.
source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/02/evo-4g-starts-getting-android-2-2-update-over-the-air/
You can def.ly try Titanium Backup to get all your Apps + data backed up. You can also try My back up pro to back up your SMS and MMS along with your call log, Alarm and other application. With my back up pro you can back up to the SD card or online....
Titanium Backup requires root. You can also use MyBackup pro. You can use been root (with more features) or not been root (only backups apps, but not settings, what is not so good)
You can also use ROM Manager (free in the Market) to backup you full ROM and configuration: it will backup everything on SD Card (except your SD card and you can quickly recover old ROMs with full confuration and apps.
So le me get this straight, with rom manager I will be able to back up the entire Rom... cause if something goes wrong and can not update a newer rom, I can always go and choose my previous rom for the recovery screen....
Caifan09 said:
So le me get this straight, with rom manager I will be able to back up the entire Rom... cause if something goes wrong and can not update a newer rom, I can always go and choose my previous rom for the recovery screen....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, and everything will be exactly as in the moment you did de ROM backup. It is like a full hard disk image in a PC.
But, consider this:
With ROM Manager, you can have as many backups as you want and you can recover any one of them. BUT, you need to be able to boot your Legend to be able to launch ROM Manager (because ROM Manager is an application)
So, if you meet problems starting up a new ROM, you will need to load any rooted working ROM to be able to start up and launch ROM Manager (need to be rooted to be able to run ROM Manager).
As far as I know, if you use a ROM with A2SD feature, apps will be stored in the EXT3 partition of the SD card, and those apps WILL NOT BE INCLUDED IN BACKUP. So, if apps stored in the EXT3 partition changed, you will need to recover those apps with Titatium Backup.
There is another way to do a full backup called NANDROID, but I do not like it so much:
power off Legend, push "Back" bottom and Power On, select BOOTLOADER, select RECOVERY, connect USB cable to your PC, run "recovery-windows.bat" from your PC (from the same directory you used to root your Legend) and you will be able to select NANDROID BACKUP.
With NADONDROID BACKUP you can do also a full ROM backup, but you can store and recover only ONE backup/last backup. In addition, you need a PC to be able to run it. So, that is not very nice.
ok i see... thanks for the info....
What is the best program (for a non rooted phone) for backing up and restoring all Apps etc to a new phone? I am getting my don a new phone and thought I'd ask the smarties in the community. Please
Well, since its a new phone, I would start fresh and redownload your necessary programs. More or less, you're going to say to yourself "do I really need this program?" when you look back at the apps you currently have. Also, some programs may be incompatible with your new phone (especially between major android versions).
I am pretty sure you have to have a rooted phone to be able to do this with titanium backup.
Astro file manager is capable of backing up and restoring apps without requiring root. My wife uses it on her stock MT4G.
However, I'm not sure if it will work on a completely new phone...it might though. You'd obviously have to transfer the backed up information from the old phone's sd to the new one.
why not just root? you can always unroot afterwards.
probably the best two apps for a new phone - SuperOneclick following Rom manger
DR-EVIL23 said:
probably the best two apps for a new phone - SuperOneclick following Rom manger
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How remarkably off topic...thank you. Lol
Edit: Just realized you were likely responding to the title of the thread, not the actual question in the OP. I retract my remark, even though I was just playing around.
Sent from my Vibrant using XDA App
best program for getting a new android phone would have to be superuser imo
I bought a Desire Z about two weeks before the 1.72.405.2 OTA update came along, and I allowed it to update (Yeah I know, this was after all my first Android device).
Anyway, lately my phones been running slowly and apps force closing, so I've decided to downgrade it and root it (psneuter method), and try some different ROM's.
What I was wondering is, what would be the best way without root, to backup as much of my data as possible, apps, sms, files, and also if possible a backup that I can use in case I scew it up, so I can get it back to the way it is now.
I have a copy of:-
RUU_Vision_HTC_WWE_1.34.405.5_Radio_12.28b.60.140e_26.03.02.26_M_release_155556_signed
which I believe is the stock ROM for this device, but as far as I know if it goes wrong I'll be unable to flash this as the update won't allow me to flash an earlier version..
Would I be able to mount and then backup the whole phone using adb or any other method.
I've been reading about it for a while now, and while I have lots of bits of information, I've been unable to find a good solution.
Thanks,
...John...
j0hn0n1 said:
I bought a Desire Z about two weeks before the 1.72.405.2 OTA update came along, and I allowed it to update (Yeah I know, this was after all my first Android device).
What I was wondering is, what would be the best way without root, to backup as much of my data as possible, apps, sms, files, and also if possible a backup that I can use in case I scew it up, so I can get it back to the way it is now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Without root, a good app to backup your other apps is astro file manager, its available free from the market, you just have to hit menu, tools and it'll back up all the apps on your sd card, in terms of files, just make sure their all on your sd card and they'll be fine
Not sure how to back up SmS but i know their are apps out their, a point you may have forgotten is to make sure you back up your contacts as they all get wiped and I made this mistake, the easiest way to do that is to make sure your contacts sync up with your google account so after rooting, you can just sync them back,
Hope i helped!
Use google to remember what apps you've downloaded from market. Once associated, when you flash a new rom, google will automatically redownload all your associated apps. For sms, i suggest you download GoSMS and use their internal backup feature. It will save to sd and be visible to your stock sms app as well on restore.
Sent from my AOSP Virtuous Desire Z using XDA App
Ya but too many times google starts restoring apps that I uninstalled months ago. Great idea but bad implementation imo.
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA Premium App
Sorry I haven't replied, was in work all day yesterday.
I have Astro File Manager, but I hadn't even considered it, thanks. I have my contacts sync'd with Google, so it seems that as long as I backup my files and sms everything else should be done automatically anyway.
Go SMS seems worth getting anyway, as the bog standard Android messages app is seriously dull. I'll give it a try.
I had wondered about Google Market restoring apps, but I thought it would only reinstall apps that were installed at the last sync.
If you install an app and it screws up your phone, and do a factory reset then Google will just reinstall the app that caused all the problems in the first place.
Definitely a good idea, but needs more work.
Anyway, thanks for all the info, I'll give it try tonight, when I get back from work.
...John...
I find SMS Backup & Restore to be the best app for this purpose and I wouldn't recommend the backup feature from the market, as you said it is likely to give problems.
Without root though, the backup choices are somewhat limited for apps and such.
I've been using Super Manager by gpc. It works pretty good, plus offers a ton of other features that can be used with or without root.
I've backed up what I could, although it's typical that as soon as it's all gone I realised things that I should have wrote down (I had been using the wallet/pocket app and although I backed up all my apps, I'm guesing it won't have backed up any of the passwords, logins, bank details, etc).
Anyway, I've downgraded and successfully rooted my phone (through gfree), I have CID: 11111111 and S-Off, but I haven't installed and ROM's yet as I read somewhere that you are supposed to wipe everything between ROM's, am I wiping the Davlik cache or doing a factory reset (I mean won't the factory reset just reset my stock ROM back to it's original condition).
I'm also wondering about finding custom ROMs, on my dell streak I had installed ROM Manager and could get a list of any that were available.
I first installed ROM Manager and used it to flash recovery, but this time I've installed CWM first, so would it be safe to install ROM Manager now, will it want to flash a recovery over the one I have already.
Or is it not advisable to use ROM Manager, as I have previously heard of a few problems it may cause.
Thanks ...John...
Rom manager shouldn't give any problems, but for custom roms it's best to take a look at the development forum. If you don't like that you can still use the list in rommanager, it might be just me who prefers downloading roms to my pc first.
But before you install any of them I recommend you make a nandroid backup from recovery just to be safe.
I think the issues were that some people, not all, found problems flashing some of the gingerbread roms via Rom manager. Better to save the Rom to SD and then flash it via CWM.
Right I've done a nandroid backup, and I've saved one to another mSD card which I can keep somewhere just in case (probably a bit over cautious, but...).
I thought that by saving apps to an sd card, they would run from the sd when I restarted my phone, even the ones that I had moved previously with the application manager in settings are not seen.
Still reinstalling the ones I want isn't really that bad.
Seriously, somebody needs to sort out the Markets app backups feature, when I was setting up the phone at first, I specifically chose to not automatically sync with Google and that I would do it manually when needed. Then I went in to the market to get a file manager and the download failed, it was only when I looked at what was going on I realised it was already downloading and reinstalling 96 apps. I looked around for a 'cancel all' option and there isn't any, so I had to cancel them all one by one and then uninstall the ones that had managed to install.
A simple checklist to select the apps you want would be great, oh, and a cancel all button would be a bonus.
Anyway, things are not as much fun when they're too easy.
Thanks ...John...
Hi guys,
First of all (in case you didn't realize it), I'm an android noob. This is my first Android phone (my employer tried to give me an iPhone, but caved when I told them I'd just stick it in my drawer and save it as an emergency phone) and I just rooted it
Now...I made a backup of it after rooting. This should get me back to stock if I need it, right? Should I copy it off the phone? I guess it will be removed if I have to wipe...?...
Also; will I retain my settings, sms/mms etc etc if I use a custom ROM? This is my main concern at the moment, as I want something more fancy and hopefully less energy consuming ROM.
Cheers!
tiwas said:
Hi guys,
First of all (in case you didn't realize it), I'm an android noob. This is my first Android phone (my employer tried to give me an iPhone, but caved when I told them I'd just stick it in my drawer and save it as an emergency phone) and I just rooted it
Now...I made a backup of it after rooting. This should get me back to stock if I need it, right? Should I copy it off the phone? I guess it will be removed if I have to wipe...?...
Also; will I retain my settings, sms/mms etc etc if I use a custom ROM? This is my main concern at the moment, as I want something more fancy and hopefully less energy consuming ROM.
Cheers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi there!
if you made the backup just after rooting, if you run that Backup (through CWM etc) it will revert the phone back to how it was at the time of the backup, so if you didnt have any settings,sms,Apps etc they will not show. you can copy the backup file if you wish to but i believe (not 100%) the backups are stored on External SD and as a result are not lost on a Factory Reset/Wipe
Some Custom ROMS (Litening ROM i use) allow you to flash with no loss of data, including all your apps, SMS and settings. Basically you have the exact same phone layout but with a Spiffy,fast,Fresh rom they are really easy to flash with ODIN, now im not sure if other Roms (Villain, Cognition, etc) retain the Data partition on flashing you would need to check out the specific Threads on the Android Development section of the forum
hope that helped !
Thanks - that was helpful I will look into the other ROMS and decide from there.
Do you know if any of the SGS2 ROMs have more themes available? I get bored easily, and it would be great to change the look and feel every now and then
well being that the phone is still relatively new and still not available for the North American market, the development for it is still small. However, the CM7 team are developing roms for it, and a lot of other custom roms are based off CM7, so there should be a good selection of roms in the near future. the sgs2 is one of, if not the most anticipated android device this year, so i'm sure rom selection wouldn't be a problem.
Thanks, guys
I just bought Titanium Backup after some recommendation in another thread. Is there anything I should be aware of, or any recommendations, when making a backup before trying out other ROMs?
tiwas said:
Thanks, guys
I just bought Titanium Backup after some recommendation in another thread. Is there anything I should be aware of, or any recommendations, when making a backup before trying out other ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whenever i do anything such as update/change my ROM, i do a Ti backup of all my apps (incase they go missing) then a CWM backup of my System which i can roll back to if i have any problems
Also, just to 2nd what p00kienrayray Said, the only ROMS i know of which support themes are MIUI and CM7 which should hopefully work fully soon
tiwas said:
Thanks, guys
I just bought Titanium Backup after some recommendation in another thread. Is there anything I should be aware of, or any recommendations, when making a backup before trying out other ROMs?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, there *definitely is* a recommendation, when making a backup before trying a rom which wipes your phone, check out the message I sent to TB developer..
"Hi, I bought titanium few days ago to help the transition from my Magic to the new Galaxy S2. I used to use My backup Pro but appreciated the apps freezing function of Titanium that could possibly help avoid the battery drain problem on the S2 due to the Samsung WiFi sharing bug.
I had quite a bad experience, though, regarding a hard reset I had to perform on the phone, which I previously backed up with Titanium: the default backup directory is /mnt/sdcard but that corresponds to the internal memory on the S2, while the external one is located in /mnt/sdcard/external_sd (if I am not wrong). That led to losing a week worth of photos (the one part I couldn't really get back, given that I had a week old backup made with SMS Backup & Restore + Call Log backup & Restore made on the Magic).
Ok, lesson learnt for me but may I suggest that the default directory can be automatically set to /mnt/sdcard/external_sd if the terminal is an S2, for future users not to be unsatisfied? Is it something that could be implemented in TB?
Thanks for listening,
*************
PS well, shame on Samsung as well for such a weird choice... I would have set /mnt/sdcard for the external one and /mnt/internal_sd for the internal one... and don't understand why the hard reset (performed through the *2737*3655# code - if I remember correctly) does reset the internal memory which if I am not wrong is a separate partition from the system."
CONFIGURE YOUR TB BACKUP DIR TO /mnt/sdcard/external_sd BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE
Not to mention that some apps like SMS Backup & Restore do not allow you to change the dir, therefore you have to manually move the backup results after you have finished