Titanium Backup Warning - Galaxy S I9000 General

Now I realise I am likely to be subjected to a torrent of mockery for this, but feel I should post it in the spirit of a public service announcement.
I needed to do a factory reset of my Galaxy S today (Froyo JPO via Odin - nice), and as a clever and forward thinking IT literate person thought it would be a good idea to back up my apps (if only to save my Angry Birds progress).
So I downloaded Titanium Backup from the Market, and used it to backup all my apps & and services with "useful data".
I then proceeded to do a factory reset using the handy code *2767*3855# (due to the minor snag of forgetting my Mobile Tracker password, and being unable to use the reset option in Settings)
arning 1 - This performs a reset as soon as you hit # - no "are you sure" or similar. Use with caution.
Once that had completed, all was good (messaging app was working again which was the reason for the reset), and I proceeded to reinstall Titanium Backup from the Market, and went to restore all my apps.
FAIL
Warning 2 - Titanium Backup saves it's backups on the internal SD card on a Galaxy S. This gets wiped by a Factory Reset, therefore saying Syonara to all your carefully backed up data. Whoops.
Now I will readily admit this is my own daft fault for not checking the backup location, and copying the data to my external SD card, but then "Experience is simply the name we give to our mistakes"
Here's hoping this prevents at least one other person making the same foolish mistake.
James.

Hangon, I'm 99% sure the internal doesn't get formatted using factory reset.. Well at least on my device (Aussy GT-I9000)

internal sd
stevles said:
Hangon, I'm 99% sure the internal doesn't get formatted using factory reset.. Well at least on my device (Aussy GT-I9000)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Today I did a Factory reset thiking I will los the data but the data is there. This confirm the 1% to complete de 100%.
Carlos

Data should still be there fella in 'sd' just move it into 'external_sd' same happened to me.

You should have really read the documentation before using the app
That being said, I have my backups stored on Dropbox so at least if anything happens I can restore it from the cloud.

Trust me guys - the TitaniumBackup folder on the internal SD was empty after the factory reset & reinstall.
That said - it's possible it was the reinstall that blanked it, although that would be even more daft.
Having not checked it during the process, I can't comment for sure when it went bye-bye.

It never happened to me. What about other files on your Internal SD? Did they get wiped out too or just the contents TitaniumBackup folder?
No idea, anyone experienced d1verjim's case? All I can think of is bug of TB that makes it "Delete all Backups".
---
"Experience is simply the name we give to our mistakes", but I think it's not your mistake this time, so hold on the 'experience' first! Gotta find the cause for that. TB is well-known for its stability.

Related

Clean Start on JM2 Question

So I was thinking since I have been downloading, trying, messing, uninstalling, installing etc etc
You get the picture.
Was thinking of giving my Galaxy a bit of a clean.
So my thoughts were:
Option A
1. Make a record of what programs I actually like not what I have installed.
Maybe screen shots might be the idea.
2. Factory data reset my Galaxy.
3. Unmount and format my internal memory
4. Unmount and format my SDCard
5. Do settings and account
6. Install applications.
7. Transfer music.
Sound like a good idea??
Option B
Someone said I should clean out what applications I don't want first and suggested an easier method.
1. Backup data and system settings with BackupPro
2. Backup applications with AppMonster
3. Factory reset.
4. Unmount and format my internal memory
5. Unmount and format my SDCard
6. Install applications Appmonster
7. Install settings and data BackupPro
8. Transfer music.
Which option would be better. Would I get some bad data if I did Option B.
Advice greatfully received.
MyBackup (a back up program ) lets you choose what programs to backup.
You could just backup what you need you want to keep, hard reset it, and put what you want back on.
Thats my suggestion. I'll be doing this soon, I've been messing around so much with it!
Yeah one of my options is to do this.
I have folders and junk left over from Applications I have uninstalled.
If I installed Clockwork will it be removed with a Factory Data reset or should I flash the phone again with JM2.?
ClockworkMod is stored on the internal SD card, so a factory reset shouldn't remove it (I'm not sure if flashing a firmware wipes the internal SD though).
Try TitaniumBackup for your backup needs.
Why do you want to format the SDCard? Is that really necessary? Does it really improve the performance? (I hope not, transfering 14Gb of music files is just too much)
And, do you a perform a factory reset from the settings/privacy menu on the galaxy or from the bootscreen (that is triggered by adb reboot command). I have the idea that the first option is much more thorough than the second.
appelflap said:
Why do you want to format the SDCard? Is that really necessary? Does it really improve the performance? (I hope not, transfering 14Gb of music files is just too much)
And, do you a perform a factory reset from the settings/privacy menu on the galaxy or from the bootscreen (that is triggered by adb reboot command). I have the idea that the first option is much more thorough than the second.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For JP2 their was a noticable improvement after reformating the SDCard.
Since I have a lot of left over folders and what's not was thinking this could be a good time to clean up.
I would use the Settings>Privacy>Factory Data Reset.

system wipe deletes contents of microsd?

I downgraded yesterday in preperation for rooting my tf. After the downgrade i was getting a ton of apps force closing. I decided to reset to factory from the settings screen and that solved the Fcs. However when i went to flash primordial 3.1 i was very surprised to see my sd card empty with nothing more than the lost and found directory on it. Ive got a recent backup on my laptop so no harm, but im still surprised.
Not likely.
I still have my data.
altarity said:
I downgraded yesterday in preperation for rooting my tf. After the downgrade i was getting a ton of apps force closing. I decided to reset to factory from the settings screen and that solved the Fcs. However when i went to flash primordial 3.1 i was very surprised to see my sd card empty with nothing more than the lost and found directory on it. Ive got a recent backup on my laptop so no harm, but im still surprised.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
berbecverde said:
Not likely.
I still have my data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, a factory reset will wipe the internal memory (/sdcard is not actually the uSD card, it's a symlink for /data/media...) your stuff is stored in /data/media and you told the system to wipe data, so it did.
there is a modified clockwork recovery that ignores the internal memory location so you can wipe without losing your photos, downloads, etc.
I learned the hard way about this.....5.5 gigs of PDF!!! Good thing it was on a backup disk! Not to mention movies and other stuff.
It will delete stuff on yout microsd cause it is symlinked to /mnt/sdcard/microsd
Sent from my Transformer TF101

How to backup with nandroid if there is not enough space?

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.

Starting over

Using Titanium Backup, I have seen my internal and SD card get fuller and fuller. I'd like to start from the beginning. Here's what I have planned, let me know if this should work.
1. Download the same fresh ROM that I've been using, FR008.
2. Using ADB, remove bloatware and apps that I'm not going to use.
3. Flash the UOT Kitchen zip that I made recently, as well as a font zip.
4. Nandroid backup all of these changes.
5. Wipe Dalvik, wipe cache partition, wipe data/factory reset, wipe battery stats.
6. Copy the contents of the SD card to a safe place (PC or USB)
7. Reformat the SD to remove the EXT3 partition, make it all FAT
8. Copy the Clockworkmod folder back to the SD card (it will be the only file)
9. Restore the Nandroid backup I made in #4.
This should give me a fresh start and then I can reinstall the apps that I want. I assume this process will remove all of the remnants of junk left behind by all the previously uninstalled apps. I know there has got to be some serious junk in the 1 year of messing with this thing.
On a side note...is there a way to have the previous purchases made in the market no longer visible in the "My apps" view? Some of the previously purchased apps no longer have any purpose for me. It would be nice to clean that up.
In reality you should be able to easily "clean up" whatever is taking up the extra space. First, when you uninstall an application, the app data stored on internal memory is automatically erased. Uninstalled apps can leave behind data on the SD card (and many do), but you can just delete this yourself (even stuff inside the Android folder) without going to the extreme of formatting the entire card. As for the internal space getting larger, this is probably the result of your dalvik cache growing and growing. This is completely normal and doesn't make your device slower, but it can mean you'd run out of space. You can clear your dalvik cache from CWM, but ultimately the phone will just recreate it.
But, if you just WANT to start with a clean slate, that's up to you. If you are going to go that route, then I'd advise you to simply wipe everything (dalvik, cache, data, and in addition to what you said, the system partition) before installing the fresh ROM. Making a Nandroid backup is unnecessary for this process (although you might want to make one at the beginning just in case you want to revert). Like I said before, stuff on your SD card can be deleted whenever you want, so you can just delete/format it before or after you do the above.
You should NOT wipe your battery stats unless your phone is giving inaccurate battery readings. Wiping this will just make your phone give you less accurate battery readings for a while.
duckredbeard said:
On a side note...is there a way to have the previous purchases made in the market no longer visible in the "My apps" view? Some of the previously purchased apps no longer have any purpose for me. It would be nice to clean that up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think if you force close and clear the data for the Market app, it will clear that list (and repopulate it only with apps currently installed).
The purpose for writing the sd card is to get rid of the ext partition.
My last Intruder was a Grumman A-6E.
duckredbeard said:
The purpose for writing the sd card is to get rid of the ext partition.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It seems to me like your intention is to avoid running out of memory, which is why I'm confused why you want to delete your ext partition. The Aria has such little internal memory that I'd suggest using apps2sd with any custom ROM, but to each his own.
In any case, if you are going to delete it, the easiest thing is probably to delete it before you install anything. If you have a computer with a microSD card reader, then you can do:
1) Turn phone off, remove SD card, and format the card from your computer.
2) Copy all the ROM zip files you want to install to the SD card, and put it back in the phone.
3) Boot straight into Clockworkmod, take a Nandroid backup if you want, then wipe everything and do a clean install.
The reason I'm confused with the list of steps that you gave is that you're taking a nandroid backup, then wiping everything, then doing a restore. The restore just completely undoes the wipe, so what was the purpose of wiping? If your intention is to only restore the system partition, then I don't see why you don't just delete the ext partition before wiping.
Ok...that was a little scary. On the high anxiety side of uneasy. I used my old Aria (ATT didn't want the old one on an insurance claim) to clean out FR008 Liberated ROM. I used adb to remove any and everything I had not used in the last year since I got the phone. Stock widgets, HTC widgets of all sorts, app sharing, setup wizard. Lots of stuff. I then applied my font pack and UOT kitchen mods. Once I was happy with that, I did a nandroid of that and saved it away.
Then I took the sd card and made a copy of it. Using Ubuntu, I removed the EXT3 partition and made it all FAT32. Then I copied over pertinent files such as notifications, wallpapers, and the beloved Tasker folder, which contained a very recent backup. I also created a clockworkmod folder and placed the aforementioned nandroid in that folder (from the old device to the new).
Inserted the SD and rebooted into recovery, restored the backup. Rebooted fine.
The only apps I have installed so far are Titanium backup and Tasker. I'll be monitoring Titanium as I reinstall the apps from the market that I know I want.
The scariest part for me was juggling the SD cards and what nandroid was to be the newly reborn aria. Glad there were no issues with the Tasker restore also. That is alot of work rebuilding profiles and tasks.

game data and titanium backup

hey guys so i just lost all my data in final fantasy iv because i did a series of reformats on my phone. however when i restored using titanium backup. it only gave me a restored file from an ooold backup eventho i clicked on backup ALL data.
do you think it is because when i factory reset to prepare for a new rom, it deletes my final fantasy data?
help please cuz i switch roms frequently but i hate the fact i lost my data
bengali548 said:
hey guys so i just lost all my data in final fantasy iv because i did a series of reformats on my phone. however when i restored using titanium backup. it only gave me a restored file from an ooold backup eventho i clicked on backup ALL data.
do you think it is because when i factory reset to prepare for a new rom, it deletes my final fantasy data?
help please cuz i switch roms frequently but i hate the fact i lost my data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have backup App Cache and backup External Data enabled with TiBu?
bengali548 said:
hey guys so i just lost all my data in final fantasy iv because i did a series of reformats on my phone. however when i restored using titanium backup. it only gave me a restored file from an ooold backup eventho i clicked on backup ALL data.
do you think it is because when i factory reset to prepare for a new rom, it deletes my final fantasy data?
help please cuz i switch roms frequently but i hate the fact i lost my data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A week ago, I was flashing through different roms, and I decided to do a data reset through the stock recovery. What a mistake I had made. I lost ALL data on my internal SDCard. *facepalm* (thankfully, I had most of it backed up elsewhere, so it was really just a massive inconvenience).
Do you have an external SDcard inserted? I'm curious: It's possible that you were storing backups on your external for some time, and then somehow switch to internal storage for backups... and then the internal got wiped (reverting back to external)?
Just a shot in the dark.

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