Database Users

preserving market "my downloads" list between wipes/rom installs

I've wiped and installed a lot of roms lately, and generally when I go to 'my downloads' in the market, only my paid apps are there. So, I have to go though the process of searching the installing each app again. It's just easier when they are all in a list.
I figured it would be a good idea to backup all my apps and then reinstall them afterward with adb in linux as such:
for a in `ls *.apk`; do adb install $a; done
this works, but of course they don't show up under 'my downloads' and I don't get update notifications.
Is there a way around this?

gsgleason said:
I've wiped and installed a lot of roms lately, and generally when I go to 'my downloads' in the market, only my paid apps are there. So, I have to go though the process of searching the installing each app again. It's just easier when they are all in a list.
I figured it would be a good idea to backup all my apps and then reinstall them afterward with adb in linux as such:
for a in `ls *.apk`; do adb install $a; done
this works, but of course they don't show up under 'my downloads' and I don't get update notifications.
Is there a way around this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to backup and restore the database file located in the market folder....it should be here...
Code:
/data/data/com.android.vending/databases
I'm assuming since you can backup and restore your apps thru adb then you can figure out how to pull and push this to your phone

I assume you would want to do this to get update notifications. If so you can grab "aTrackDog" from the market. It will list all you apps and when you refresh it will tell you when updates are available and give you a link to get the update from the market.

AdrianK said:
I assume you would want to do this to get update notifications. If so you can grab "aTrackDog" from the market. It will list all you apps and when you refresh it will tell you when updates are available and give you a link to get the update from the market.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will it only work for software installed through the market or will manually installed software show up as well?

DirectMatrix said:
You need to backup and restore the database file located in the market folder....it should be here...
Code:
/data/data/com.android.vending/databases
I'm assuming since you can backup and restore your apps thru adb then you can figure out how to pull and push this to your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome. I'll do this next time I wipe and reflash with the latest coolest rom. =)

gsgleason said:
will it only work for software installed through the market or will manually installed software show up as well?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
nope, works for the apps on my ext3 even after switching builds several times, works great.

DirectMatrix said:
You need to backup and restore the database file located in the market folder....it should be here...
Code:
/data/data/com.android.vending/databases
I'm assuming since you can backup and restore your apps thru adb then you can figure out how to pull and push this to your phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For those of us who are not that familiar with adb, can you give a short tutorial on how to pull and then push that database folder?

well i just wiped and installed the latest cyanogen mod and when i went to the "my downloads" section of the store all the apps i had downloaded before were all there (paid and free)
I also thought it didnt do that, apperently it does

Gilliland12 said:
For those of us who are not that familiar with adb, can you give a short tutorial on how to pull and then push that database folder?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need ADB, you can use the terminal emulator from the market or the recovery console.
To pull the database, open terminal or recovery and type:
Code:
su
cd /data/data/com.android.vending/
cp databases /sdcard
that will copy that database file to the root of your sdcard.
When pushing it back it is probably best to do it while the phone isn't running, so only use the recovery console:
Code:
cd sdcard
cp databases /data/data/com.android.vending/
reboot
I haven't tested this, but it will have the same results as the ADB method.

AdrianK said:
You don't need ADB, you can use the terminal emulator from the market or the recovery console.
To pull the database, open terminal or recovery and type:
Code:
su
cd /data/data/com.android.vending/
cp databases /sdcard
that will copy that database file to the root of your sdcard.
When pushing it back it is probably best to do it while the phone isn't running, so only use the recovery console:
Code:
cd sdcard
cp databases /data/data/com.android.vending/
reboot
I haven't tested this, but it will have the same results as the ADB method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Many thanks.

Backup for Root works perfectly for me

if you got a paid app through adb and got a refund, can you still get updates for that app if you have it installed?

opasha said:
if you got a paid app through adb and got a refund, can you still get updates for that app if you have it installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you will not get updates without re-purchasing the app. And talking about ripping off app developers on this forum is frowned up so please stop discussing it.

opasha said:
if you got a paid app through adb and got a refund, can you still get updates for that app if you have it installed?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you got a refund, then you shouldn't have the app. That's stealing and it's not nice. Most apps are cheap (a couple of bucks at most), stop being a cheapskate.

Originally Posted by AdrianK View Post
You don't need ADB, you can use the terminal emulator from the market or the recovery console.
To pull the database, open terminal or recovery and type:
Code:
su
cd /data/data/com.android.vending/
cp databases /sdcard
that will copy that database file to the root of your sdcard.
When pushing it back it is probably best to do it while the phone isn't running, so only use the recovery console:
Code:
cd sdcard
cp databases /data/data/com.android.vending/
reboot
I haven't tested this, but it will have the same results as the ADB method.
i tried this but it dodnt work.
when I did the first command it said ommiting databases. so I thought it worked.
flashed to the new cyanogen 4.0 rom (which is amazing btw!) did the second command and it said cannot stat file "databases" no such file or folder.
what gives??

Id say the databases were open and couldnt be backed up.
You should try to copy them from the recovery.
Also, after copying why didnt you check if the database files were in your sdcard (or the path you specified for the copy) before wiping? If the file is not there its obvious that it cant be restored after the wipe..

thought it might have been hidden or on my ext2 partition! never mind i got atrackdog!

addiosamigo said:
thought it might have been hidden or on my ext2 partition! never mind i got atrackdog!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems you can only copy each of the four db files individually... but copying the entire folder doesn't work.

All that is needed is assets.db
Open the terminal and enter
$ su
# cp /data/data/com.android.vending/databases/assets.db /sdcard
Wipe, flash, reboot.
YOU MUST OPEN THE MARKET AND AGREE TO THE TOS BEFORE RESTORING!!!!
Open the market, agree to the TOS, and close the market. Open the terminal and enter
$ su
# cp /sdcard/assets.db /data/data/com.android.vending/databases/assets.db
# reboot

[Q] Motoblur home process failing

Hello All,
I would really appreciate help on this issue I have been having. I recently rooted then unlocked the bootloader of my device. I downloaded a root uninstaller and may have somehow killed the home process from running. Now, when i turn on the device, i get the error
The application Home (process com.motorola.home) has stopped unexpectedly
It does not go away and comes repeatedly back, not allowing me to change any settings whatsoever. I don't know what to do. I tried going into android recover mode and both wiped the device and cleared the cache, but the problem persists. I also tried putting a cyanogenmod version on the devices SD card but cant get it install because for some reason I can't get clockwork mod installed correctly. I cannot turn on USB debugging mode because I can't get into the settings. I tried using the .sbf to flash it but it is the .sbf I used to unlock the device so I am not sure that is the right one or if the right one would even do the trick, I fear that the system files that run the home application may be corrupt, deleted or permanently inactive. I would appreciate any ideas people may have to help me.
Also, becuase I factory reset the device, the bootloader is unlocked, but it is no longer rooted, and I cannot root it at this time becuase I cannot turn on USB debugging mode.

I was looking at the guide here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1302423
And was wondering why it didn't work when I tried to install CWM, then I noticed something I didnt see;
"DO NOT FORGET TO DO THIS PART: After the install of RomRacers recovery boot up your phone. Open up your favourite file browser (I used Astro file manager to do this ) and navigate to /system/etc/ and delete the file called 'install-recovery.sh'"
Is there a way to do this from the PC as I wouldn't be able to on my device? Or is the fact that it is not currently rooted going to stop me from doing anything?
Thanks,

heronpj said:
I was looking at the guide here;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1302423
And was wondering why it didn't work when I tried to install CWM, then I noticed something I didnt see;
"DO NOT FORGET TO DO THIS PART: After the install of RomRacers recovery boot up your phone. Open up your favourite file browser (I used Astro file manager to do this ) and navigate to /system/etc/ and delete the file called 'install-recovery.sh'"
Is there a way to do this from the PC as I wouldn't be able to on my device? Or is the fact that it is not currently rooted going to stop me from doing anything?
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you are familiar with ADB, the basic commands would be:
Code:
adb remount rw
adb shell
While in the ADB shell:
cd /system/etc
rm install-recovery.sh
exit
that should cover it.
let me know if this works for ya.

Thanks for your response. The only problem is my phone isn't in USB debug mode, and I can't set it to be. Any idea of how to get that turned on without being able to get into the settings?
FaithCollapsing said:
If you are familiar with ADB, the basic commands would be:
Code:
adb remount rw
adb shell
While in the ADB shell:
cd /system/etc
rm install-recovery.sh
exit
that should cover it.
let me know if this works for ya.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

heronpj said:
Thanks for your response. The only problem is my phone isn't in USB debug mode, and I can't set it to be. Any idea of how to get that turned on without being able to get into the settings?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you boot into recovery?

FaithCollapsing said:
can you boot into recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can, and have down a wipe data as well as cleared the cache, problem persists.

Solved!!! I was able to basically button mash until somehow the screen to log into the play store came up. Download launcher pro and that got me back into my phone! Thanks for your help

[q] urgent help is needed, too many pattern attempts

Hi, i need a fix for this and fast !!! I've tried all that is listed on xda about this issue, but to no avail. Anyway, i forgot my pattern and went to the forgot pattern menu. My wifi was off, so i figured it would give a prompt of some kind to turn on the wifi and then log on to my google account. But nooooo, google supposes that everyone's wifi is on all the time. Please help, what do i do ? I rebooted to recovery, i made a nandroid and currently i am adb pulling the twrp folder from my N7. I would have just factory reseted it, no probs, but i remembered i have some EXTREMELY important works in colornote that i can't afford to lose. Please help, what do i do ?????

Looks like you answered your own question. Unless your Android isn't encrypted, just boot into TWRP and backup your data using adb:
adb pull /data/data C:\backup
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The main thing you will have to concern about is restoring those data and make it readable by the app. There are several ways, but you can either:
adb push C:\backup\colornotes /data/data/colornotes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't forget some devices you need to give it write permission first: adb remount rw, though should not be needed with TWRP. Or just copy the folder back using a rooted file manager.
Then go into adb shell and fix permission of the files so the app can get access to them:
adb shell
su - (again shouldn't be needed wile in TWRP)
chmod -R 644 /data/data/colornotes (or 777 for full access)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tips while in adb shell:
Check permissions of files by typing: ls -la
Check what partition is mounted and whether you have write privilege to it by typing: cat /etc/fstab
Also, if you use a custom rom like CyanogenMod or AOKP, there is an option to enable all widgets on the lockscreen. Just put the Power Control widget on the lockscreen, then you can toggle WiFi on and off. (Can't remember if this is also possible with stock.)
Have fun.

OR have a look here.
Looks like either of the two methods suggested would be feasible with only a recovery running, but the 2nd one is easiest (as a custom recovery wouldn't necessarily provide a statically-linked sqlite3 utility).
if it works it doesn't require any wiping.
BTW guess how I found this.... wait for it .... wait for it.... wait for it.... I used google search.

Hi, i forgot to mention that i made the twrp backup while i was locked out and whenever i try to restore from the backup after a factory reset, it goes back to square one... And when i did a full wipe and hoped to use titanium backup to extract stuff from the nandroid, it just gives me and empty list, but the backup is there, all 5gb of it

iAndroidOS said:
Hi, i forgot to mention that i made the twrp backup while i was locked out and whenever i try to restore from the backup after a factory reset, it goes back to square one...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that is to be expected, is it not? You are restoring exactly what is already there - effectively a no-op.
OK, I just booted into TWRP (2.4.1.0) and confirmed that the (equivalent of the) following disabled my pattern lock on the next boot:
cd /data/system
mkdir foo
mv locksettings.* foo
mv gesture.key foo
I did all of the above (the 'cd' command is implicit) using TWRPs touch interface - didn't even need adb.
ymmv as I am using jdq39/4.2.2 and my tablet was not in a "locked-out" state, but its an easy thing to try.

[Q] Backup /cache/ without root ?

I'm trying to recover some lost pictures from cache. I can't root because my bootloader is still locked, and unlocking it will wipe the very data I'm trying to recover... Is there any way for me to get read-only access to my cache, without first wiping the phone?
What exactly will adb backup/restore keep? Will it save my cache? I've heard people say it stores literally *everything* and others say it won't back up the cache and some other system files?
The djrbliss motochopper toolkit http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2233852 would be absolutely perfect, except that I'm running 4.3, and I don't know of any way to downgrade without wiping the phone... One Click Root also would be perfect, except they don't support the Nexus 4...
Is there any way I can root access, or at least read/pull these files, without wiping the device?
I've been searching frantically for days now, I'd pay good money to have those pictures back If I can get these pictures off, you can bet I'm rooting immediately!
Nexus 4, running 4.3 build JWR66Y all stock

If all you want to do is be able to access files on your cache partition, you could try using "adb pull /cache/".
I dont think that needs root, but i could be wrong. Nonetheless, its worth a shot. Setup adb , open command prompt, and run:
Code:
cd Desktop
mkdir cache
cd cache
adb pull /cache/

Chromium_ said:
If all you want to do is be able to access files on your cache partition, you could try using "adb pull /cache/".
I dont think that needs root, but i could be wrong. Nonetheless, its worth a shot. Setup adb, open command prompt, and run:
Code:
cd Desktop
mkdir cache
cd cache
adb pull /cache/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does appear to need root - it just leaves the destination file empty? Likewise I can't access /cache/ it through FTPDroid or Total Commander, says I don't have permission

bken said:
It does appear to need root - it just leaves the destination file empty? Likewise I can't access /cache/ it through FTPDroid or Total Commander, says I don't have permission
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you need root as I just tried adb pull too and it's not working, opening the folder in adb shell is not working either so I guess you have no luck
What you could try is copying the partition using dd but I'm not sure what's the name of the partition (which block) etc ... But that *could* work. EDIT: Not working either, you still get permission denied, sorry
Sent from my Nexus 4 running Android 4.3

mihahn said:
I guess you need root as I just tried adb pull too and it's not working, opening the folder in adb shell is not working either so I guess you have no luck
What you could try is copying the partition using dd but I'm not sure what's the name of the partition (which block) etc ... But that *could* work. EDIT: Not working either, you still get permission denied, sorry
Sent from my Nexus 4 running Android 4.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for trying. adb backup gave me access to all my app files, but didn't grab cache.
Here's a thought: through the backup I have an extracted .ab file with all the data for the app that wrote this data into cache. Is there a way I could replace the .apk with something that could copy this program's cache data to /sdcard, and then "restore" with this modified .apk? Would the new .apk retain the permissions of the old, and let me copy this data? Or, alternately, could I modify the .apk to allow debug mode so I can open the cache as that app in console, and adb pull then?
My next best option I can think of, is to go ahead and unlock the bootloader, let the phone reset, and then immediately root and perform data recovery, and hope I don't overwrite everything in the meantime. I'm not sure yet which USB Mass Storage methods (if any) will let me use a standard file recovery program to scan the drive. This is also my last resort, as if it screws up I'm toast.
Forensics lab got back to me, said they could "probably" do it but it'd cost me $1200 I would happily pay 120 but 1200 is absurd. Wonder what their method is to extract data...

OK I think I'm almost there!! I retrieved the .apk through my Holo Backup full system backup and decompressed it using Droid Explorer. Decompiled with apktools, changed my manifest file, and then recompiled into apk. Now I'm trying to get my new AndroidManifest.xml and resources.arsc into my .apk without mucking up the certificate... It sounds like people have had success taking the changed files out of the newly compiled apk and stuffing them into the old apk real quick without it changing the certificates, but I don't seem to be having the same luck? I'm getting this error which isn't a "no certificates error" but isn't success either. Only thing I changed was debug = "false" to "true"
Code:
c:\>adb install -r -d d:\com.xxxxx.xxxxx.apk
2490 KB/s (15989341 bytes in 6.269s)
pkg: /data/local/tmp/com.xxxxx.xxxxx.apk
Failure [INSTALL_PARSE_FAILED_UNEXPECTED_EXCEPTION]
The apk I'm starting from installed fine, and I know because it reverted me to a previous version because the marketplace had just updated me over the weekend. This zip trick has also apparently worked for a few people, any suggestions other than keep trying other computers and programs?
http://www.galaxynexusforum.com/for...562-how-decompile-compile-using-apktools.html
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1658121
I'm not trying to reverse engineer this app for any evil, I only want my lost data that I only don't have because I failed to root when I should have and as soon as I have that, I'm reverting the app back to the official version. :angel:

HELP! Wrote to /system and now can't do anything.

Updated: Changed the title cause I'm really stuck here.
Recently re-rooted (seems I have to keep redoing the steps every few days/weeks), I was trying to fix one of the recurring issues of getting 'IMS stopped working' with EVERY phone call I try to make.
A suggested fix was to revert the imsservice.zip file in system/priv-app/imsservice/ with another version. I didn't have the ../imsservice directory so I created it and now my phone is basically useless with non-stop 'IMS stopped working' errors...Even after several factory resets and redoing ODIN.
I can only surmise the issue is that even though I'm doing a Factory Reset, that /system/priv-app/imsservice directory I created isn't getting wiped and therefore causing all the issues. Since I can't get to the directory via GUI, I was hoping I could remove it via ADB but the phone doesn't seem to be able to boot far enough to let me get-in via ADB either ('adb devices' shows the phone, but status is offline so I can't run any commands on it).
I'm at wits end here, any help is much appreciated!

In case anyone else (and for my own records in case I do it again) falls into this trap, here's what I finally figured out and how I fixed it:
It seems I was running an old version of ADB.exe, once I upgraded to the newest version (v1.0.36) I was able to shell into the phone and manually delete the offending /system/priv-app/imsservice directory, reboot and was back to running properly again.
Here's the specific steps:
1. Boot to Recovery Mode.
2. 'adb root' to put the daemon in root mode
3. 'adb shell' to connect to the phone to run commands via command-line.
4. 'su' to change to root user with full root access.
5. 'mount -o rw,remount,rw /system' mount the /system partition to be read/write.
6. 'cd /system/priv-app'
7. 'rm -rf imsservice' to delete the offending directory.
8. 'exit', 'exit', 'adb reboot' to exit out of root, then exit the shell and reboot.

Honestly, I think that your best bet would be to flash stock with odin, see if it boots, then re-root. If not, wipe then try again.

Odin like he said^^
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Binary100100 said:
Honestly, I think that your best bet would be to flash stock with odin, see if it boots, then re-root. If not, wipe then try again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
lt.anthonydelgado said:
Odin like he said^^
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You guys DID see in my original post that I TRIED and RE-TRIED re-flashing with ODIN to no avail, right? If the stock ROM has the imsservice directory, then yes it likely would've worked as running ODIN would've probably overwritten the faulty one I created. Maybe. I don't know because I didn't do that.
But the solution I did find gave me direct access to delete the offending directory (while phone is in recovery mode) and didn't require starting back from scratch with using ODIN.
Thank you for the responses and trying to help though.

Oh wow that's awesome then, well at least we can leave this here in case anyone else runs into the same issue
Sent from my SM-G935T using Tapatalk

Namuna said:
In case anyone else (and for my own records in case I do it again) falls into this trap, here's what I finally figured out and how I fixed it:
It seems I was running an old version of ADB.exe, once I upgraded to the newest version (v1.0.36) I was able to shell into the phone and manually delete the offending /system/priv-app/imsservice directory, reboot and was back to running properly again.
Here's the specific steps:
1. Boot to Recovery Mode.
2. 'adb root' to put the daemon in root mode
3. 'adb shell' to connect to the phone to run commands via command-line.
4. 'su' to change to root user with full root access.
5. 'mount -o rw,remount,rw /system' mount the /system partition to be read/write.
6. 'cd /system/priv-app'
7. 'rm -rf imsservice' to delete the offending directory.
8. 'exit', 'exit', 'adb reboot' to exit out of root, then exit the shell and reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I thot i was gonna bricked my s7 edge so what happened if we have removed the ims service? anything noticeable performance wise or cellular signal or any trouble receiving and making phone calls? sms? cheers lifesaver! :victory: