Database Users

extract nandroid backups?

I flashed my phone to JF 1.5 and in the process some how managed to screw up my sd card and lost all my apps. i did do a nandroid backup of jf 1.41 so i ahve those img files. I tried to restore to that to recover everything but it wont boot past the g1 logo. I tried downgrading firmware to 1.43 (couldnt find 1.41) and using the same restore for nandroid and still wouldnt boot. I also tried jsut applying the user data img to see if i could jsut grab that and it fialed on both firmware revisions 1.5 , 1.43.
In the end im stuck with a backup i cant use, the only thing i need off of it is the apps. I read that you can use the emulator to mount it but i couldnt figure that out. I also looked at yaffs extractor from the google code site but i wasnt quite sure how to compile/run it.
Anyone have a simple solution or a complex one i can follow to getting my apps out?

did you follow this?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=3311708&postcount=2

darkrangr said:
I also looked at yaffs extractor from the google code site but i wasnt quite sure how to compile/run it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You go into the source directory, type "gcc -o unyaffs unyaffs.c", then you (create and) go to some directory where you want to extract the contents ("mkdir ~/extract") "cd ~/extract", and finally you extract the image "/path/to/unyaffs /path/to/data.img".

I tried the standard nandroid restore and it failed.
Trying the yaffs thing now and i got an error.
I placed the yaffs files all in a folder on the sdcard and put the img in that folder as well.
I open the terminal on the phone and did cd /sdcard/nan nan being the directory i made
I then tried to run that command "gcc -o unyaffs unyaffs.c" and i get gcc not found. what did i do wrong?

Unless your backup was corrupted, flashing the backup should have been fine.
Code:
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash userdata data.img
You said it failed - what error did it give? Did it say it couldn't find the command? Be sure you're running these commands on your PC with your G1 connected via USB, the correct drivers are loaded, and you have the fastboot program.
As for using unyaffs - I don't think you understand what you have to do to use it. You have to compile it on your PC...all you get is the source code. I haven't looked on the google code site, but I would imagine there isn't a version for windows.
EDIT: After reading your original post for a second time, I have to ask: if you screwed up your SD card and lost all of your apps, does that mean you were using Apps2SD? That's a bit of an important detail to leave out, if so. Unless I'm mistaken (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), your apps wouldn't be in the backup anyway, you're wasting your time. If your backup is just restoring the symlinks to the SD card and the SD card is screwed up, then no wonder it's hanging at boot. You'd need to wipe your SD card and start from scratch. I'd recommend doing that either way - would you rather have to redownload a few apps or continue having a bricked phone for days?

it didnt fail on the restore with fastboot, it loaded up everything fine and then when i rebooted it just sat on the boot screens forever and never loaded.

I am feeling nice so darkrangr if you want to PM your image files I will unyaffs it on my ubuntu box for you.

TemporalShadows said:
EDIT: After reading your original post for a second time, I have to ask: if you screwed up your SD card and lost all of your apps, does that mean you were using Apps2SD? That's a bit of an important detail to leave out, if so. Unless I'm mistaken (and someone correct me if I'm wrong), your apps wouldn't be in the backup anyway, you're wasting your time. If your backup is just restoring the symlinks to the SD card and the SD card is screwed up, then no wonder it's hanging at boot. You'd need to wipe your SD card and start from scratch. I'd recommend doing that either way - would you rather have to redownload a few apps or continue having a bricked phone for days?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, my apps were installed normally. I am running curent jf firmwar enow while i try to get my stuff back, but some of the apps i had are no longer available or have converted to pay apps, plus i forgot a lot of apps i had.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=497034
In the other tools archive on this post you can find the unyaffs tool fully compiled. Just move your image to the same folder, drag and drop it on the unyaffs.exe and watch the files appear.

How about YOU DIDN'T INSTALL GCC!!!
darkrangr said:
I tried the standard nandroid restore and it failed.
Trying the yaffs thing now and i got an error.
I placed the yaffs files all in a folder on the sdcard and put the img in that folder as well.
I open the terminal on the phone and did cd /sdcard/nan nan being the directory i made
I then tried to run that command "gcc -o unyaffs unyaffs.c" and i get gcc not found. what did i do wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

ADB Backup on 4.2.2

So I was able to do a full adb backup when I was on 4.1.2 before I updated to 4.2.2.. I wanted to do another full adb backup again on 4.2.2 before putting a recovery or custom rom on my device so it would be easy to restore back to my completely stock experience (with root) if I choose. But for some reason after letting it run all the way through (I let it run overnight since it takes so long) the backup is nowhere to be found which leads me to believe it failed somewhere along the way, but no errors are reported. Has anybody had this issue or have any advice on what may be going on? I've tried doing:
Adb backup -all
Adb backup -all C:\Users\Wyth\Desktop
Adb backup -all G:\ (external HDD)
Adb backup -all G:\xtzbackup (in case adb backup had some sort of bug saving to the root of the drive)
If anybody has any help or alternative solutions to creating a full system backup I'd appreciate it! Thanks in advance!

If you are going to supply a path and file name, don't forget the -f switch

dph3055 said:
If you are going to supply a path and file name, don't forget the -f switch
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that was absolutely the issue. I guess I did that the first time around but forgot the second. I ended up making the backup and then unlocking the bootloader. Unfortunately I forgot that it would completely wipe the internal storage rather than just a factory reset, so I lost my titanium backups. Tried to do the adb restore, and every time after the first app it would just reboot the device. After trying it many times I ended up using the adb extractor tool to create a tar from the backup. Apparently however the backup was no good because when extracting the tar after getting to a certain part every time it came up with unexpected end of archive. But I at least got most of the titanium backup folder out. Tried copying that to internal storage and it was permission denied. Copied it to external sd, and then on the tablet transferred it to internal storage. Then every time I restored any of the data, when I rebooted the tablet it would go into bootloops. After many ftf flashes and time wasted copying things back and forth all over the place I finally am basically just resigning to starting over. Boot into CWM and made a backup, and find that it makes the clockwork mod backup folder in data/media rather than the proper place in data/media/0 or even data/media/legacy. The option to backup to external sdcard also doesn't work, as it refuses to mount sdcard or external-sdcard. Needless to say the last 24 hours or so has been massive headaches. Is there a newer version of CWM for the tablet than 6.0.3.2? It seems pretty buggy and hard to believe that it is what everyone has been using as the button combination to reboot to recovery doesn't even work.
Btw, I'm trying to do this on the stock sony 4.2.2 firmware for sgp312.
Using kernel and recovery from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2433466
with ftf from here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2424550

[Q] Note 3 System Backup

Background
I do not plan on flashing roms, I have a rooted note 3(900t) with knox at 0x0(want to keep it that way). I do not want to backup APKs or personal information.
Desire
I only want to make a backup of all of my critical system files necessary to do a soft reboot. So that in a worst case scenario I never have to worry about not being able to reset my phone.
Reason
I plan on editing files with a root explorer and using Xposed framework.
Hope this is a little more clear, thanks for the help!

7US said:
I have a rooted note 3 with a knox warranty of 0x0. I would like to make a full backup of any system files that could become corrupted so that I may restore them without tripping the knox. I do not care about backing up Apps(Actually prefer to manually install them as I need them), I have all of my APK files manually backed up. Additionally I want to install Xprivacy and Xposed framework but they always warn to do a full backup. I was playing around with ADB as well but that backup seems to be directed at Apps and Contacts which I don't care about. Would it be safe to just install Xposed framework and Xprivacy and rely on the factory reset? Or is there some method I should use of doing a complete system backup. Also how would I restore that backup? (preferably I would like to have a nice backup/recovery method that I know I can always restore from my computer in case somehow one of my system files get deleted) Thank you for your help. I like to edit my system files and I have no problem using the standard phone reset I am more worried about critical failures really just as a failsafe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
too long.
if i get right from this longe sentences;
u cannot backup knox counter.
u can make nandroid backup from ur system but knox counter will change its value.
:good:

x102x96x said:
too long.
if i get right from this longe sentences;
u cannot backup knox counter.
u can make nandroid backup from ur system but knox counter will change its value.
:good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I fixed my original post, hope it is more clear for you.
I know I cannot backup my knox counter, which is why I do not plan on installing CWM.
I am new to the Android operating system and read many threads about different methods of backing up and restoring(CWM/Titanium Backup/etc) but they always seem to be centered around backing up APKs+Contacts or backing up Roms for Rom Flashing.
I am trying to understand what I need to backup to be safe to play around with my system files and Xposed and always be able to restore any damage that I may do.
So far I played around with ADB a little bit and saw some tutorials on how to do full backups through ADB but not for the note 3. Thanks for your help! I plan on experimenting and such on my own but first I want to make sure I have necessary backups to not worry about crippling the OS.
Perhaps a question within my question is.. What type of backup do I need? What files need to be preserved for me to be able to do a system reboot to restore the phone? Is it safe for me to be using Xposed without a backup and playing around with system files? Will the soft reboot restore these files? If not what needs to be backed up, that really is my question.

7US said:
I fixed my original post, hope it is more clear for you.
I know I cannot backup my knox counter, which is why I do not plan on installing CWM.
I am new to the Android operating system and read many threads about different methods of backing up and restoring(CWM/Titanium Backup/etc) but they always seem to be centered around backing up APKs+Contacts or backing up Roms for Rom Flashing.
I am trying to understand what I need to backup to be safe to play around with my system files and Xposed and always be able to restore any damage that I may do.
So far I played around with ADB a little bit and saw some tutorials on how to do full backups through ADB but not for the note 3. Thanks for your help! I plan on experimenting and such on my own but first I want to make sure I have necessary backups to not worry about crippling the OS.
Perhaps a question within my question is.. What type of backup do I need? What files need to be preserved for me to be able to do a system reboot to restore the phone? Is it safe for me to be using Xposed without a backup and playing around with system files? Will the soft reboot restore these files? If not what needs to be backed up, that really is my question.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
instead of making backup of ur system files u can download a firmware of ur region!
if something goes wrong when u try to modifying then flash the stock rom.
however u can easily copy a file to another direction and then paste back to original if issue appears.
for example build.prop and etc.
and for ur firmware as i said u can make nandroid backup (thr s lots of tools in play.store for it that not need custom recovery) (if i say correctly!)
:good:

7US said:
Background
I do not plan on flashing roms, I have a rooted note 3(900t) with knox at 0x0(want to keep it that way). I do not want to backup APKs or personal information.
Desire
I only want to make a backup of all of my critical system files necessary to do a soft reboot. So that in a worst case scenario I never have to worry about not being able to reset my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
suggestion:
you could use safestrap.
it is based on the twrp custom recovery but it will not trip knox !
read the thread before using it. you have some more benefits using ss, you will see.
backup the system and data partition and you are safe.
please note that this will never backup the content of your internal storage like your music, videos ond so on.
just dont wipe/format your internal storage from recovery or if you feel you need to, copy the whole content to your pc first.
additional things to backup:
you might want to backup your efs and maybe your pit file too.
easy to find info on this forum.
if you want to read more about backing up via adb, directly to the pc then this thread is for you.
i made a backup of the whole memory block one time, just for the worst case...
basicly, you just need the required files, open 2 cygwin windows and copy and paste(right click) the commands from the first 2 codeboxes from the thread into that windows.
hope this helps

A.N.Droid said:
suggestion:
you could use safestrap.
it is based on the twrp custom recovery but it will not trip knox !
read the thread before using it. you have some more benefits using ss, you will see.
backup the system and data partition and you are safe.
please note that this will never backup the content of your internal storage like your music, videos ond so on.
just dont wipe/format your internal storage from recovery or if you feel you need to, copy the whole content to your pc first.
additional things to backup:
you might want to backup your efs and maybe your pit file too.
easy to find info on this forum.
if you want to read more about backing up via adb, directly to the pc then this thread is for you.
i made a backup of the whole memory block one time, just for the worst case...
basicly, you just need the required files, open 2 cygwin windows and copy and paste(right click) the commands from the first 2 codeboxes from the thread into that windows.
hope this helps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very interesting! Reading the 2nd link made me think... could I even recover my files through ADB if I crippled my OS? Don't I need to boot into the device to even get to ADB? Or can I access ADB through the stock boot screen without CWM? Safestrap also looks very tempting. Also do you have a list of the note 3 partitions for me to make ADB backups I have been looking for them on Google and can't find them anywhere the Android file structure is a jungle to me especially how it varies from phone to phone.

7US said:
Very interesting! Reading the 2nd link made me think... could I even recover my files through ADB if I crippled my OS? Don't I need to boot into the device to even get to ADB? Or can I access ADB through the stock boot screen without CWM? Safestrap also looks very tempting. Also do you have a list of the note 3 partitions for me to make ADB backups I have been looking for them on Google and can't find them anywhere the Android file structure is a jungle to me especially how it varies from phone to phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i´m not sure for the stock recovery but from twrp you can use this adb backup method. i just did it a few days ago.
you must change the path in the commands from /system/xbin to /sbin and no need for su.
it should work from safestrap too but i couldn´t get adb to work, some error message was shown.
for the partitions:
system ,data, efs
and maybe modemst1 and modemst2
theres a full list of partitions and an interesting discussion about this topic on this thread.

[Q] Understanding Directories, and Backing Up

I want to make a backup of my Android I9505 by copying all the files to my laptop.
I don't understand the directories
Using ES3 I see
/ Device (Which I guess is root.)
0
extSdCard
I assume that exdSdCard is (as it almost says) the external SD Card.
So what are "/" and
"0"
I guess I should back up all directories. What do you think?

webmanoffesto said:
I want to make a backup of my Android I9505 by copying all the files to my laptop.
I don't understand the directories
Using ES3 I see
/ Device (Which I guess is root.)
0
extSdCard
I assume that exdSdCard is (as it almost says) the external SD Card.
So what are "/" and
"0"
I guess I should back up all directories. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
0 is your internalSD ( /storage/ emulated/0/ )
/ is root directory
If you just copy folder like that , yes you will make a copy of the folders and the data inside of them but it will not work to restore your system , for that you will need something like a Nandroid copy or use Titanium Backup to be re install after you restore your rom

webmanoffesto said:
I want to make a backup of my Android I9505 by copying all the files to my laptop.
I don't understand the directories
Using ES3 I see
/ Device (Which I guess is root.)
0
extSdCard
I assume that exdSdCard is (as it almost says) the external SD Card.
So what are "/" and
"0"
I guess I should back up all directories. What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are WAY overthinking this.
Install custom recovery. Use it to make a Nandroid backup.
That's a single zip file that you can later use to restore everything in exactly the same state as it was the day you made the backup. (Takes all of 5 minutes.)
Then if you want to store that backup zip file on your PC you can easily copy it to the computer and store it there for as long as you need.
Your way of doing this will take a lot longer to copy the files and won't ultimately work to restore the system.

Skipjacks said:
You are WAY overthinking this.
Install custom recovery. Use it to make a Nandroid backup.
That's a single zip file that you can later use to restore everything in exactly the same state as it was the day you made the backup. (Takes all of 5 minutes.)
Then if you want to store that backup zip file on your PC you can easily copy it to the computer and store it there for as long as you need.
Your way of doing this will take a lot longer to copy the files and won't ultimately work to restore the system.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Using ROM Manager, I boot to Recovery mode. I only see
- Reboot system now
- apply update from ADB
- Apply update from external storage
- wife data/factory reset
- wipe cache partition
- apply update from cache
No Backup option.

webmanoffesto said:
Using ROM Manager, I boot to Recovery mode. I only see
- Reboot system now
- apply update from ADB
- Apply update from external storage
- wife data/factory reset
- wipe cache partition
- apply update from cache
No Backup option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi ,
Then i guess you are 100% stock , no root , no Custom recovery?
if so then you need an app that does not need root to back up your app , Titanium is good but you need at least to be root.

MAX 404 said:
Hi ,
Then i guess you are 100% stock , no root , no Custom recovery?
if so then you need an app that does not need root to back up your app , Titanium is good but you need at least to be root.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have Root and I use Titanium Backup.

webmanoffesto said:
I have Root and I use Titanium Backup.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you are root but you do not wish to install a Custom recovery or custom rom , right?
If so use titanium to make a back up of your apps , contacts , settings , email , sms ..etc etc
If you want to make a nandroid you need to install a Custom Recovery

Just install a custom recovery.
It won't affect the operation of the ROM at all if you're completely happy with the stock rom.
Root and Recovery are mutually exclusive things. One has nothing to do with the other. Each exists independently of the other.

Skipjacks said:
Just install a custom recovery.
It won't affect the operation of the ROM at all if you're completely happy with the stock rom.
Root and Recovery are mutually exclusive things. One has nothing to do with the other. Each exists independently of the other.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1

[Q] step by step guide from backup to flashing ROM?

I'm a complete beginner when it comes to rooting, flashing and so on. I've been using my Nexus 4 since the day it came out, and have always had it completely stock, never even rooted it or anything. I'm normally not too bad at stuff like this, but I've been googling how to do all of this and been reading some guides on here, and I'm just getting more and more confused.
My goal is to go from Stock Android 5.1.1 to the newest Cyanogenmod nightly, and to keep all my data. Now, how do i go about this?
I'm already stuck at the first step (or at least I think, that's the first step): Creating a backup of my current Stock phone. Apparently I need to create a NANDROID backup first, but I can't do it with a locked bootloader? And if i unlock the bootloader, my data will be wiped? This alone seems completely illogical to me, because how am I going to backup my device then? Is there no simple step by step guide for Nexus devices, that includes EVERYTHING, from backup to the final flashing of the ROM?

This is a good guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2018179

I've seen it and it doesn't answer my question. How do I unlock the bootloader to create a backup, without wiping my device?

jb91 said:
I've seen it and it doesn't answer my question. How do I unlock the bootloader to create a backup, without wiping my device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't unlock the bootloader without wiping the device. The only backup you will be able to make without an unlocked bootloader is copying your sdcard to your pc and use an app like helium to backup your apps and data. Just remember to copy that backup to your pc as well, otherwise it will be wiped.

theminikiller said:
You can't unlock the bootloader without wiping the device. The only backup you will be able to make without an unlocked bootloader is copying your sdcard to your pc and use an app like helium to backup your apps and data. Just remember to copy that backup to your pc as well, otherwise it will be wiped.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. Do you know this "Nexus Root Toolkit" program? I was able to create a backup file containing all apps with it, as well as extract a file with my contacts data from my Nexus 4. I'm guessing this should also include my SMS / WhatsApp messages and so on?

jb91 said:
Thanks. Do you know this "Nexus Root Toolkit" program? I was able to create a backup file containing all apps with it, as well as extract a file with my contacts data from my Nexus 4. I'm guessing this should also include my SMS / WhatsApp messages and so on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I don't know much about that. You could skim through some of the thread or search to find out if someone else has asked that question and if not ask it there. That would probably be the easiest way to find out.

This is extremely confusing, I have no idea how people can say it is simple to put a custom ROM on a Nexus device. I am absolutely lost trying to back up everything. Is a NANDROID backup just a full backup of the phone? Am I not completely screwed if I can't create this? I have some random app files, extracted from a Root Toolkit, and a contacts file. I don't think that's enough to save my device in case anything goes wrong during flashing?
One of the sticky threads here mentions this right at the beginning:
Before you do anything EVER, you'll always have to backup your stuff, even if you don't feel like it, or your dog died (in which case I'm truly sorry), but, no matter what you're about to do, always have a recent backup sitting around.
There are many ways and things you can and will probably have to backup.
1. Backup your entire phone, by creating a Nandroid Backup.
As you saw in the 'Custom Recovery" picture above, you have a "Backup and Restore" option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But it doesn't make any sense. "Before I do anything", I can't even create the NANDROID backup to begin with, because the bootloader is not unlocked by default, and unlocking it will wipe everything on the device. So I don't get how the first step to put a ROM on a phone is to create a NANDROID backup, because from my understanding, it is not possible to do. Also, my Nexus 4 did not come with a "custom recovery" installed and I have no idea how to put this on there (do i do this before or after the NANDROID backup?). I'm really starting to wonder how anyone actually understands these guides.

jb91 said:
This is extremely confusing, I have no idea how people can say it is simple to put a custom ROM on a Nexus device. I am absolutely lost trying to back up everything. Is a NANDROID backup just a full backup of the phone? Am I not completely screwed if I can't create this? I have some random app files, extracted from a Root Toolkit, and a contacts file. I don't think that's enough to save my device in case anything goes wrong during flashing?
One of the sticky threads here mentions this right at the beginning:
But it doesn't make any sense. "Before I do anything", I can't even create the NANDROID backup to begin with, because the bootloader is not unlocked by default, and unlocking it will wipe everything on the device. So I don't get how the first step to put a ROM on a phone is to create a NANDROID backup, because from my understanding, it is not possible to do. Also, my Nexus 4 did not come with a "custom recovery" installed and I have no idea how to put this on there (do i do this before or after the NANDROID backup?). I'm really starting to wonder how anyone actually understands these guides.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Following the link to the guide, I see this:
*****
Unlocking the Bootloader:
***NOTE***
This will perform a factory reset on your device. You will lose all applications. Even the data on your SD Card! I'd recommend making a Backup to your computer BEFORE performing this. There is a method for backing your data up, detailed HERE.
For the time being, there is a method available that will allow you to unlock your device (and root it) without losing your data.
For instructions, click HERE. Please note: this is a hack and isn't the "conventional" and "accepted" way of unlocking your bootloader on a nexus device. The wipe requirement is there for your safety, really, and I'm certain this will be patched in the upcoming releases.
*****
But you can always use adb directly from your pc to backup your entire device. How? adb --help
adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-obb|-noobb] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosystem] [<packages...>]
- write an archive of the device's data to <file>.
If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
(-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
in the archive; the default is noapk.)
(-obb|-noobb enable/disable backup of any installed apk expansion
(aka .obb) files associated with each application; the default
is noobb.)
(-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)
(-all means to back up all installed applications)
(-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
system applications; the default is to include system apps)
(<packages...> is the list of applications to be backed up. If
the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
list is optional. Applications explicitly given on the
command line will be included even if -nosystem would
ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)

greg17477 said:
But you can always use adb directly from your pc to backup your entire device. How? adb --help
adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-obb|-noobb] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosystem] [<packages...>]
- write an archive of the device's data to <file>.
If no -f option is supplied then the data is written
to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
(-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks themselves
in the archive; the default is noapk.)
(-obb|-noobb enable/disable backup of any installed apk expansion
(aka .obb) files associated with each application; the default
is noobb.)
(-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the device's
shared storage / SD card contents; the default is noshared.)
(-all means to back up all installed applications)
(-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automatically includes
system applications; the default is to include system apps)
(<packages...> is the list of applications to be backed up. If
the -all or -shared flags are passed, then the package
list is optional. Applications explicitly given on the
command line will be included even if -nosystem would
ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is ADB this "Android Studio" that I had to install in the first step of this guide (Android SDK)? If so, I opened it but I have no clue how to get anywhere where i could enter code like this. This is what it looks like: http://i.imgur.com/zhujSKR.png

jb91 said:
Is ADB this "Android Studio" that I had to install in the first step of this guide (Android SDK)? If so, I opened it but I have no clue how to get anywhere where i could enter code like this. This is what it looks like: http://i.imgur.com/zhujSKR.png
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, i can not help you , if you do not know the basic of basics Lots to read up for you.
cheers

Well ok, lets try it another way: i don't understand how to create a full backup, but i did backup some single apps to my PC using Nexus Root Toolkit (they're .ab files), for which i want to keep my data. I also manually backed up my mp3s and pictures / videos. Would i be fine just starting with the actual process (unlocking bootloader, install custom recovery and so on)?
After all, i should have the possibility to revert anything back for these apps at least, and the official Nexus 4 Stock Android files are available at Google. So, there's no real risk, even without a FULL backup of everything, correct?