Database Users

Compete Android OS Image restoration / backup?

Hey all,
When I had my Windows mobile phone, I could use Sprite Backup to make a backup that basically acted as an image that I could store on the SD Card. I could then do anything possible to my phone, and then I could simply restore the image, and it went back to the EXACT state it was when i took the image - registry, ALL apps, messages, icons, etc..., just like a 100% hard drive image.
I have Sprite backup on my Samsung Epic now, and was wondering if it acted the same way?
That is, if I install a custom rom, I would like to be able to factory restore it, then apply the backup to take it back to the exact state it was.
Is this how it works?
Thanks,
Matt!

It's called a nand backup and one of the benefits of rooting
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Great,
I'm rooted, so I'll. Check it out....
Thanks!

Get the one click root and recovery. Once you have clockwork mod you can do a full backup. Also you can do an "advanced restore" and just restore your /data.
I have found that sometimes a restore doesn't work correctly and I have to reflash the rom and just restore /data to put my apps and settings back.
A word of warning, sometimes when you flash an old /data to a new rom it causes issues with programs. Personally, I have had very few issues doing it, even when moving between 2.1 and 2.2.1, but ymmv.

Clockworkmod vs Titanium?

I've had such great help in these forums (Nook specifically) I couldn't resist trying my luck in these (Droid X) forums as well.
So, I've searched for Clockworkmod threads but they are all (That I found or noticed) from back in August.
Plenty of info to be had on Titanium Backup.
So my question, is Titanium the backup/restore program of choice? I was hoping for an idiots guide to backup and restore (especially in the event of problems) but the guides are kind of sketchy on the restore part.

Titanium
Use titanium backup to backup and restore all your apps. Useful when trying out new roms, although without the paid version of titanium you will spend alot of time tapping through the installation screens as it goes through your apps. Titanium won't help you recover a broken system.
SBF
Use RSDLITE 4.9 with a .SBF file to perform what many call a "sbf". This is usually used to restore a phone back to stock, or to recover from a bad/corrupted operating system. If your phone is unbootable, this is your recovery option. SBF'ing your phone is not as scary as it sounds, just download the system restore file (.sbf), connect your phone via usb to your computer, and use RSDLITE 4.9 to flash the phone.
Nand backups / Clockwork recovery
Use clockworkmod to do a full backup of your phone. Think of it as a clone of your phone. Restore your phone by booting into clockwork recovery and instead of choosing "backup", use the "restore" command. It will then allow you to select one of the backups you have made with clockwork. Pretty easy stuff here.

jeftep said:
Nand backups / Clockwork recovery
Use clockworkmod to do a full backup of your phone. Think of it as a clone of your phone. Restore your phone by booting into clockwork recovery and instead of choosing "backup", use the "restore" command. It will then allow you to select one of the backups you have made with clockwork. Pretty easy stuff here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you, this is exactly what I was after. My only problem remains that I do not see any guides on how to go about downloading/installing/operating this program. I'll keep searching now that I know more about what I'm searching for. Thanks!

Search the market for "rom manager", it's free. Load it and tap "flash clockworkmod recovery".
You can use this app to reboot into recovery or by holding down the home and volume down buttons while pushing the power on button.
You can also download the DX bootstrapper from koushik's site, just google "koush bootstrap". Also free.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Woah there buddy.
I'm going to clarify this process a bit for you before you mess something up, if you don't mind.
Root your phone.
The simplest method is to search for Z4Root here in the forums...it's a .apk that roots your phone for you.
Now...
I assume you want a sweeeeeeeet rom, ya?
We can do that...
MY personal recommendation would be this...
Make sure you have at least 2-3 gigs free on your SD...it won't need to STAY that way...but during this process, it will.
Open your contacts.
Click the options button.
Backup your contacts to your SD card.
Now download Titanium from the market...
The free version works fine for 99% of what you need.
The only problem is (as mentioned) you have to manually click the "install" button for all 500098098098 of your apps when you restore...as opposed to just one button and letting it work for a few minutes.
Open Titanium and backup all of your apps+data.
Do you want Liberty 2.0? I personally use it and LOOOOOOVE it...but you currently have to pay $5.99 for it...a free version should be released soon.
If you do...just download liberty toolbox donate from the market.
It will install the rom for you! The option is under the "Rom Manager" part...
Make sure you select both options when installing....The "Backup" and "clear data" ones.
If you don't want liberty...read below...if you've chosen to pay the $5.99...skip down to the ****** below.
Download either DX bootstrap or Rom Manager.
Rom manager actually installs Clockwork...where bootstrap is simply a method of booting into clockwork via an application.
Either work fine.
Find the ROM you'd like to install and download the .zip
Put the zip on the root of your SD card.
Boot into clockwork.
(With DX bootstrap you click "bootstrap" and when it finishes click "reboot recovery")
Backup. (Camera button selects options, volume moves up and down, and power moves back a page)
Now Wipe Data/Factory Reset
Now...Wipe Data/Factory Reset
And again.
And again.
I usually do that 3-4 times just for extra security.
Now install zip from SD card.
Pick the "Choose Zip from SD card" option.
Find your rom's .zip
Click Reboot.
******
CONGRATULATIONS!
You're running a custom ROM!
Now...if you're contacts don't automatically start restoring...
You can choose the backup that you made from the options menu in your contacts.
Now...restore all apps+data with Titanium.
And you're back to where you were before the rom.
All your contacts...all your apps...
You may need to go back into your settings menu and change those back to your exact specifications.
Now...
If you don't like your rom...
You can boot into recovery again...
And restore to where you were previously with one click.
At this point after deciding I like the rom (I don't keep much free space on my SD)
I usually move my nandroid backup from before the rom to my computer...and delete it from my SD card...and then do another backup of my current (rom'd) setup.
I keep a copy of the titanium backup on my PC as well...and delete it from my SD card...there is no reason to waste a gig of space that can easily be transferred back when needed.
My recommendation is to always have you're most recent nandroid backup on your SD card and a copy of your last few on your computer.
You can rename the backup folders for organization...but don't use any spaces or special characters.
If you're REALLY hurting for space...
You can delete the nandroid backup safely if you have a microSD reader on your computer...in the case that your phone doesn't work and need to transfer the backup back onto your SD card.
Happy modding!

Thanks for the info, all of which answered my question just right. I've been using Gingerbread rooted & deoxed since Friday and it is quite nice. The improved battery life is phenomenal!

I want to STRONGLY recommend that everyone who is new/does not know what they are doing actually go through the process of flashing the rom. I was inexperienced once and I hard bricked it (unfixable). No one needs to go through that and anyway that's what keeps our bootloaders locked.
INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT STEPS
If you do not wipe data/cache/dalvik cache/battery stats, you will bootloop. Repeatedly wiping is not at all necessary but its good for ocd.
If you do not mount system and data, your phone WILL NOT BOOT and you will have to sbf.
SBF'ing is not difficult but a pain in the ass. First of all you do not need version 4.9. I used 4.7 three days ago to flash the most recent system version. Make sure that you have the file for your bootloader version or again your phone WILL NOT BOOT.
That being said, I have found that all problems are almost always careless mistakes or at least mine have been
You will find that as long as you're careful and follow all instructions, you'll never have any problems

Ok. Great info. I have been reading through the stickies n then came across this.
I am currently running darkslide 4.2 with blur. Flashed using clockwork mod on DX rooted with z4. I know that's alot of acronyms but yall understand. I used the bootstrap to get to clockwork and load everything using astro file manager.
Here is the question.
Do I have to wipe my cache in clockwork or can I leave it? So far I have left it n its running fine but doesn't seem any faster and my battery runs down in about a day.
I also use Titanium to back up my stuff but do I ha e to back up everything manually or is the free version one touch good enough? I noticed there are alot of things not backed up in to do list. I will happily get the donate version if its recommended.
Thank you all for your time and effort to answer our beginner questions.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

Glad to see you are making progress, jperro. It never hurts (in my experience) to wipe the cache.
The paid version of Titanium backup lets you perform batch operations without interacting with every single install screen. There are other features that make it good, but thats the main one that saves you time/frustration.
I only back up a few system apps/data like Contacts Storage and Wifi Hotspots Storage. If I'm restoring my phone, chances are I'm either trying a new rom and I don't really want to muck it up with any old data - so I don't back up all the system apps/data that Titanium Backup shows as "not backed up". Besides, I've got nand backups in case I'm flashing back to a previous setup, so restoring system data or apps via Titanium seems redundant.

Ahhh. Ok. Thanks jeftep for the info. Very useful and informative.
Sent from my DROIDX using XDA App

[Q] Downgrade from 4.2 to 4.1.2

Some apps not working after updated to 4.2, so I'm considering back to 4.1.2.
Though I never done this before since the day I get Nexus 7,
I think use Wug's Nexus Root Toolkit should get it done.
But just for sure:
1. Do I need to unlock/root to flash factory 4.1.2 image? (I think it is not but not so sure)
2. Directory structure seems different from 4.1.2, is it OK just using Toolkit to backup/restore settings?
(Sorry for my English if anything looks impolite)

1) unlock bootloader yes; root no, as you're going to overwrite the system anyways.
Also I'd suggest not using a toolkit, just download the factory image off google's page and run the "flash-all.bat"
2) Use Titanium Backup to backup all app data, wipe after flashing 4.1.2 and then restore apps + data with Titanium again

I just downgraded this morning. All your data will be wiped .. ALL YOUR DATA ... meaning, after I got back to 4.1.2 I was having 13GB of free space on the tablet (out of 13 possible) .
So, if you HAVE a nandroid from the 4.1.2 days, save it to your computer (along with all your files).
If you don't have a 4.1.2 nandroid, at least create now a backup repository with whatever tool you prefer and then save the respective files to PC.
Then, flash the factory image for 4.1.2.
Then copy all your files back to the internal memory, install the backup tool and restore your apps.
The reason behind this is that the update from 4.1.2 to 4.2 has some scripts that are porting the original /data and /sdcard mounts to the new structure used in 4.2
When downgrading, you no longer have scripts to do that for you so the newly installed 4.1.2 will not recognize anything so it will bootloop like crazy (I tried first to restore just the /system ... but all the other data was already affected by the update so was no longer usable).

My thoughts:
If you got the ota, and things messed up, try flashing the 4.2 factory image. That seemed to help me. If you're not rooted already, I would recommend becoming familiar with the adb backup command to backup apps before doing anything else. You have to unlock the boot loader to downgrade or flash the factory 4.2 image, and this will wipe the device.
Once you update either way, definitely take the time to root. You can then use adb restore or titanium backup to restore from the adb backup you made before unlocking.
Just be aware that adb backup doesn't seem to backup all apps, and that titanium backup isn't exactly fast parsing through a big adb backup file.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

step by step?
srry, very nooby questions:
how do i flash my nexus?
where do i find the factory image?
what is the backup tool?
ro_explorer said:
I just downgraded this morning. All your data will be wiped .. ALL YOUR DATA ... meaning, after I got back to 4.1.2 I was having 13GB of free space on the tablet (out of 13 possible) .
So, if you HAVE a nandroid from the 4.1.2 days, save it to your computer (along with all your files).
If you don't have a 4.1.2 nandroid, at least create now a backup repository with whatever tool you prefer and then save the respective files to PC.
Then, flash the factory image for 4.1.2.
Then copy all your files back to the internal memory, install the backup tool and restore your apps.
The reason behind this is that the update from 4.1.2 to 4.2 has some scripts that are porting the original /data and /sdcard mounts to the new structure used in 4.2
When downgrading, you no longer have scripts to do that for you so the newly installed 4.1.2 will not recognize anything so it will bootloop like crazy (I tried first to restore just the /system ... but all the other data was already affected by the update so was no longer usable).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

HellcatDroid said:
1) unlock bootloader yes; root no, as you're going to overwrite the system anyways.
Also I'd suggest not using a toolkit, just download the factory image off google's page and run the "flash-all.bat"
2) Use Titanium Backup to backup all app data, wipe after flashing 4.1.2 and then restore apps + data with Titanium again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
restoring my apps with Titanium Backup is unsuccessful , when i first tried a full app+data restore it freezes at 0 percent
and when i tried backuping app the missing apps , it worked but after i rebooted it . It went into a bootloop

Youssef Hossam said:
restoring my apps with Titanium Backup is unsuccessful , when i first tried a full app+data restore it freezes at 0 percent and when i tried backuping app the missing apps , it worked but after i rebooted it . It went into a bootloop
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Assumed you are referring to downgrade from 4.2.1 to 4.1.2 and rooted to run TB, so the basic stock rom is up & running otherwise, correct?
Let's try Plan B instead - go into (Custom) Recovery and wipe dalvik cache first, then reboot. Give it a few minutes to settle and try to do your TB restore WITHOUT data, and see if it works. The /SD and/or /SD/0 directory structures are setup differently on the N7 and trying to retore with your custom settings will just make it more difficult & complicated. If this works, you can then try to selectively restore one or more with data and hopefully without going into endless bootloop again.
Plan C - go to Play Store, then Settings and "All" - you should see all of your Apps and what's installed, etc. - and install from there, it's semi-manual but it works for me 99.8% of the time when it would otherwise freeze within TB, especially true when switching custom Rom & kernels.
I usually manually copy & move back items such as documents, pictures & mp3's, etc. from standalone/usb backup drives or cloud storage back into the device once everything else are up & running properly.
Let us know if this helps & working for you or not.

Thankss !
Letitride said:
Assumed you are referring to downgrade from 4.2.1 to 4.1.2 and rooted to run TB, so the basic stock rom is up & running otherwise, correct?
Let's try Plan B instead - go into (Custom) Recovery and wipe dalvik cache first, then reboot. Give it a few minutes to settle and try to do your TB restore WITHOUT data, and see if it works. The /SD and/or /SD/0 directory structures are setup differently on the N7 and trying to retore with your custom settings will just make it more difficult & complicated. If this works, you can then try to selectively restore one or more with data and hopefully without going into endless bootloop again.
Plan C - go to Play Store, then Settings and "All" - you should see all of your Apps and what's installed, etc. - and install from there, it's semi-manual but it works for me 99.8% of the time when it would otherwise freeze within TB, especially true when switching custom Rom & kernels.
I usually manually copy & move back items such as documents, pictures & mp3's, etc. from standalone/usb backup drives or cloud storage back into the device once everything else are up & running properly.
Let us know if this helps & working for you or not.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your help , but I think the problem was that there were apps in the backup only compatible with the custom ROM I had and android 4.2.1 xD
I restored the apps one by one , but I think if I deleted the extra custom rom apps , the process would have finished without any problems

Hi fellow people,
i'm a noob just made my xda account like 5 mins ago. I've been trying to search for my problem but I haven't really a found a direct answer. So yesterday I just got my Samsung Galaxy nexus update to 4.2.1. I was really excited until I started having the battery issues, screen lock issues, and overheating problem. I really don't like 4.2.1 and want to downgrade my version back 4.1.2. My carrier is the Mobicility (Canadian). I did not do anything previously with this phone such as rooting it, doing all the funky stuff that will void my warranty. I heard about flashing some google images to get back 4.1.2 but I'm not sure if I need to root or how to like do it through the gnex toolkit that mskip made. As well what if the difference between yakju and maguro? I heard if you flash the wrong image it will brick your phone or something like that. If there is a method without having to root it and lose all my contacts, then I would prefer that a lot.
Thanks,
mleung754

mleung754 said:
Hi fellow people,
i'm a noob just made my xda account like 5 mins ago. I've been trying to search for my problem but I haven't really a found a direct answer. So yesterday I just got my Samsung Galaxy nexus update to 4.2.1. I was really excited until I started having the battery issues, screen lock issues, and overheating problem. I really don't like 4.2.1 and want to downgrade my version back 4.1.2. My carrier is the Mobicility (Canadian). I did not do anything previously with this phone such as rooting it, doing all the funky stuff that will void my warranty. I heard about flashing some google images to get back 4.1.2 but I'm not sure if I need to root or how to like do it through the gnex toolkit that mskip made. As well what if the difference between yakju and maguro? I heard if you flash the wrong image it will brick your phone or something like that. If there is a method without having to root it and lose all my contacts, then I would prefer that a lot.
Thanks,
mleung754
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You dont have to root but you need to UNLOCK the bootloader which will obviously erase all your data(and VOID your warranty). you can find the factory image here https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images . just flash the appropriate image and you should be as good to go.

mleung754 said:
Hi fellow people,
i'm a noob just made my xda account like 5 mins ago. I've been trying to search for my problem but I haven't really a found a direct answer. So yesterday I just got my Samsung Galaxy nexus update to 4.2.1. I was really excited until I started having the battery issues, screen lock issues, and overheating problem. I really don't like 4.2.1 and want to downgrade my version back 4.1.2. My carrier is the Mobicility (Canadian). I did not do anything previously with this phone such as rooting it, doing all the funky stuff that will void my warranty. I heard about flashing some google images to get back 4.1.2 but I'm not sure if I need to root or how to like do it through the gnex toolkit that mskip made. As well what if the difference between yakju and maguro? I heard if you flash the wrong image it will brick your phone or something like that. If there is a method without having to root it and lose all my contacts, then I would prefer that a lot.
Thanks,
mleung754
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mleung754,
You are posting in the wrong forum.
Asus Nexus 7 is not the same thing as a Samsung Galaxy Nexus.
Ignore mmystere68's remarks.

[Q] Smooth Rom 4.4

Hi
As you've prob guessed I'm a noob, hence the help.
Ive just recently rooted and unlocked my nexus 7 with wugfresh 1.6.2 and am now looking at putting a custom rom on it.
Ive followed the advice and put titanium backup on and backed up my apps and system data.
Having read the instructions for installing Smooth Rom 4.4, it states 'Please do not restore a 'system' data backup as it would overwritte some important files'
does this mean I cannot restore my apps from titanium backup as I cant restore system data as they where backed up together or is there some other way for me to do it ?
does titanium backup get wiped as well ?
All Help appreciated, this is my first rom install and I dont wanna **** it up.

Robbie_UK said:
All Help appreciated, this is my first rom install and I dont wanna **** it up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The most important thing to do is to make a FULL nandroid backup before you begin.
The 2nd most important thing to do is to get that backup copied someplace else besides the tablet. (PC, USB key, etc) Screw-ups involving accidental erasure of the psuedo- SD card area on the tablet are commonplace with folks that are new to this. It won't do you any good to make a backup if you immediately erase it while fooling around with a custom recovery (or toolkit) that is new to you.
I suggest you learn to make backups using the custom recovery rather than relying on a toolkit.
If you are happy with the tablet in it's current configuration, then a back-up allows you to survive any ****-ups that inevitably follow as you can return back to a known state and proceed again having learned from your mistakes.
FULL NANDROID BACKUPS. COPIED SOMEPLACE SAFE (OFF THE TABLET)
As for TiB, the only thing that is 100% safe is to only restore apps & their data that are NOT pre-installed in whatever ROM you are installing. Note this means not restoring any of the Google gapps as well, as you may have had a different versions of those apps running on your current ROM than on the to-be-installed ROM, whether pre-installed or updated later.
Yeah it's a bit of work restoring apps one by one and re-configuring things. There probably are System apps that can have their data safely restored to the wrong version of the app - but there are absolutely no guarantees that correct operation of the app will follow that.
cheers and good luck

Transfert App & Data between devices

Hi,
Tomorow or the day after I will get my Moto x pure, don't want to root it yet, I prefer to wait 2 or 3 months.
So my question is can I backup all my app and setting from my Galaxy S5 rooted with adb backup and then restore the backup without get any trouble or bootloop ?
Or do you have another idea without rooting ?
Thanks

Titanium Backup will do exactly what you want... Archive applications, app data, and settings from your old phone, and allow you to restore those into your new phone. The catch is that you DO need root.
You can't use adb or nandroid backups like you were thinking, because you are moving those files to different hardware. Nandroid backups only work when you are moving to the same hardware (e.g. you received a new replacement phone because your old phone got damaged, and you want to move over all of your data and settings).
If you are familiar with computers, Titanium Backup is like running a backup program (for tape backups). Nandroid is like doing a drive image. A Nandroid (drive image) will capture and restore a lot more data that a backup program, and will be easier to restore. But it only works if you are restoring to exactly the same hardware.
If you are considering root, I actually recommend you just do it on day 1. Getting root (and unlocked bootloader) on this phone will wipe your device. So you might as well do it when your phone is unused. Plus, you get the benefits of root on day 1, such as being able to run Titanium Backup to easily port over your apps and data; and being able to run GravityBox (an XPosed module) to tweak the UI however you would like.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

kent1146 is right that the unlocking the bootloader will totally wipe your phone, including the internal SD card. I had already set up my phone before unlocking and expected to lose my apps and settings, but was shocked to also lose everything on the internal SD.
When I transferred over from my GS3 the first time, I used the NFC/WiFi Moto Migrate app during initial setup. That was a mistake. It took forever and stuff didn't end up where I wanted it, plus is only works for some of your data. After unlocking my bootloader, I simply copied my GS3 internal SD contents to my computer over WiFi, then copied what I wanted over to the MXPE internal SD via WiFi. That was faster and I got exactly what I wanted and how I wanted it set up.
As for your apps, Google will take care of that by downloading (over WiFi) all the apps that you have on your current account to the new device, along with your contacts and a few settings. I recommend that approach to get a clean start with the new phone. Garbage accumulates over time, and it helps both performance and SD space to start fresh. I use TiBackup religiously, but chose to restore only a few app settings with it on the MXPE.

Without root, if you're decide not to, helium backup worked amazing for me

Well I will try helium at first, because I realy want to test the phone before unlooking it. And in that case I think I could do a Nandroid BAckup with ADB and restore it in the same hardware after unlocking the phone.
I will root if I get a lot of battery drain to see what appened.
When we have the root do we are able to get the OTA upadte or we need a patch for it ?

psxmail said:
Well I will try helium at first, because I realy want to test the phone before unlooking it. And in that case I think I could do a Nandroid BAckup with ADB and restore it in the same hardware after unlocking the phone.
I will root if I get a lot of battery drain to see what appened.
When we have the root do we are able to get the OTA upadte or we need a patch for it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We won't know for sure until the first OTA update is released, but I would guess so if that's all we do. My warranty still shows as valid on Moto's website and the fastboot screen shows the OS as "original." With that "original" designation, I'm guessing that OTA updates will probably work. We'll see for sure come Marshmallow.

psxmail said:
Well I will try helium at first, because I realy want to test the phone before unlooking it. And in that case I think I could do a Nandroid BAckup with ADB and restore it in the same hardware after unlocking the phone.
I will root if I get a lot of battery drain to see what appened.
When we have the root do we are able to get the OTA upadte or we need a patch for it ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You won't get OTA if you root.
Rooting will require you install a non-stock bootloader (TWRP), which wont automatically install OTA. Plus, root access will modify /system files, causing the OTA to fail.
Typical process for updating an unlocked and rooted phone is to restore your recovery and root access to stock, take the OTA update, then re-apply custom recovery and root. Or, just wait until someone has a flashable ROM that contains the OTA
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk