Database Users

Understanding the root process

Hi all,
I am interested in trying custom roms for various reasons on my G2. With the recent breakthrough in allowing full root, now seems to be a good time to try.
What I don't seem to be grasping is the whole process so, here is what I think* needs to be done, and I'd appreciate a more seasoned person to set me straight
1. Obtain full root via RAGE or oneclick Visionary method
2. Install RomManager
3. Obtain Rom
Here is where I kind of get blurry on the whole topic.
Once I have the files needed, Does RomManager do a nandroid backup so I can revert back in case I want to revert back to stock? Is this how I would revert back to stock or do I need to find the original pre or post OTA rom for the g2?
Does a program like Titanium Backup allow me to backup all of my apps and settings so they are easily restored no matter the rom, or if I revert back to stock?
Thanks in advance all, I have been reading every subset of these forums but I still feel a bit scared to try and wanted to get the facts straight before trying. I'm mostly just concerned that I wouldnt be able to revert back to stock if I had to.

gjm777 said:
Once I have the files needed, Does RomManager do a nandroid backup so I can revert back in case I want to revert back to stock? Is this how I would revert back to stock or do I need to find the original pre or post OTA rom for the g2?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
rom manager can perform the backup, wipe, and install of a new ROM all in one go, you just need to tell rom manager where the ROM is on the sdcard and it will ask if you want to backup and/or wipe first
gjm777 said:
Does a program like Titanium Backup allow me to backup all of my apps and settings so they are easily restored no matter the rom, or if I revert back to stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i do not know if titanium backup will restore the settings within the apps, but the backed up apps will work on any custom ROM you install on your phone.

Thank you for making that more clear!
So when wiping for a new rom, you want to wipe the cache, and do a full system wipe as well?
Lastly, now that I have the stock g2 rom backed up (did it manually via recovery, not in the rommanager app) I can flash as many roms I want to try them, but really can revert back to stock based on that backup. I guess what I'm saying is, I dont have to revert to stock before trying out a new rom right?
Thanks again, this is a huge help!

With your ROM backed up, that's essentially a "screenshot" of the state of your phone at that time. So yes, you can jump from ROM to ROM, clearing data, and whenever you're ready to go back to stock, you just restore your stock ROM and pretend nothing happened.
And yes, I recommend wiping everything when flashing a new ROM. Although if you're coming from the same type of ROM (I.E HTC Sense to another HTC Sense) you can probably get away with not wiping data.
And with Titanium Backup, I do reckon that settings are kept. When you restore apps, you're given the option to restore the app or app+data.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Perfect,
Thanks for the help all, much appreciated.

Why are my Clockworkmod backups unusable?

So, I just rooted my Mytouch 4G a few days ago using the 'Ultimate' guide on this forum. I had root access and I disabled and deleted some stock apps from my phone. I was using LauncherPro instead of the HTC Sense launcher. I made a backup in Clockworkmod recovery immediately after installing Clockworkmod, before I'd made any major changes.
So, I spent the past few days removing and tweaking things. I had my phone working extremely well. But then I realized that I actually wanted an .apk file (the stock visual voicemail app) that I'd already deleted from the phone. It should be in my original backup file, right? So I figured that I'd make a new backup, restore my old backup containing the .apk file, copy the .apk file off of the phone, then restore my recent backup. Well...this didn't work.
When I restored either the original backup or the more recent backup, the phone would boot up and I'd get a message that the System UIDs are inconsistent. The phone would let me make phone calls, but 95% of my apps were missing from the loader. Most of the icons on my home screens were grayed out and would tell me the applications were missing when I tried to click on them.
I tried Fix Permissions in Clockworkmod recovery, but it didn't help. My Android Market app and all of my file manager apps didn't work, so I couldn't reinstall any apps. When I'd wipe all the data on my phone, but only restore the System backup, the Android Market would work and the phone basically returns to stock. But as soon as I restore my Data backup, everything breaks.
At this point, I've already wiped the phone and started over from scratch, but I'm afraid to rely on Clockworkmod/Rom Manager for backups again. Any ideas what went wrong?

did you flash a different kernel? this may be the issue, as I know that for other devices CWM does not restore the kernel.

this happens when your backups/card gets corrupted... it could of been a number of things... changing the name of something to how much you scan the card... hard to say exactly what caused it... If your really worried about it I would suggest making a backup of your backup on your computer just to be safe...

Hmm. Mine does.
mr.tenuki said:
did you flash a different kernel? this may be the issue, as I know that for other devices CWM does not restore the kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my stickie key HTC Glacier using XDA App

I did make a backup of my backup, but it's not like these backups sat on the memory card for months before they got used. I ran the restore within minutes of when I made the last backup. Besides, aren't the backups hashed with md5 and then retested before restoring? So, if the files did get corrupted, I would think Clockworkmod would have notified me, no?
I just wish that after making a backup, there was some way to test it out without taking the chance of trashing my phone.
Regarding using a different kernel, I did not. I did not flash any experimental/downloaded images, these were simple backups and restores of my existing phone data.

mr.tenuki said:
did you flash a different kernel? this may be the issue, as I know that for other devices CWM does not restore the kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is for phones that dont support Nand like the vibrant. HTC phones is a full backup including kernel.

sundayhustler said:
I did make a backup of my backup, but it's not like these backups sat on the memory card for months before they got used. I ran the restore within minutes of when I made the last backup. Besides, aren't the backups hashed with md5 and then retested before restoring? So, if the files did get corrupted, I would think Clockworkmod would have notified me, no?
I just wish that after making a backup, there was some way to test it out without taking the chance of trashing my phone.
Regarding using a different kernel, I did not. I did not flash any experimental/downloaded images, these were simple backups and restores of my existing phone data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right, CWM does do a md5 check when restoring. I'm sorry, I don't know what could be wrong. I currently have like 5 backups of 4 ROMS and have to restored to just to play around. Did you do apps2sd? This can cause major issues when switching ROM's.

I am also having a problem restoring to my stock rom. how big does my backup file have to be?

I have had this problem before. I think in my case my issue was caused by and incompatible version of CWM. I found that to be safe, I usually make two back ups, one with recovery in 2.5.12 and one with 3.0.0.6.

It was the file. It was only 60mb, apparently I ran out of memory thanks though my other backups work fine and I found the stock rom on a thread.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

oh haha i was about to post.

ROM Manager question

Ok so I DLed ROM Manager to my epic and hit "back up ROM". I now have a backup with todays date under the Clockwork mod folder on my SD.
1. Am I all backed up? If wiped phone and re flashed I could get my angry bird levels back?
2. If I switch to a different ROM, can I still use this backup?
3. If I do restore, how do I do it? Thru CWM?

durrett syndrome said:
Ok so I DLed ROM Manager to my epic and hit "back up ROM". I now have a backup with todays date under the Clockwork mod folder on my SD.
1. Am I all backed up? If wiped phone and re flashed I could get my angry bird levels back?
2. If I switch to a different ROM, can I still use this backup?
3. If I do restore, how do I do it? Thru CWM?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my experience with Rom Manager, it doesn't work with the epic.

Backup your apps with Titanium backup.

I suggest doing both rom manager and titanium backup
Just in case.

If you go to a differemt rom you could restore all apps in clockwork by going into advanced restore under cwm and choosing to restore only /data however with some roms that's not recommended and could cause issues. If you restore the whole backup through cwm then it would overwrite whatever rom you have loaded.
With titanium backup you can backup just individual applications and restore their data or data and the app itself so as someone else said above that's your best bet.
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using XDA App

futureprospect said:
In my experience with Rom Manager, it doesn't work with the epic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Backing up with rom manager is literally backing up with clockwork mod. ROM manager just reboots the phone into cwm and makes the backup there. Clockwork mod backups have always worked for me.

When I tried to use ROM Manager it wouldn't work properly. Someone a while ago complained that booting into cwm with the app causes errors. I wouldn't rely on the app at all if I were you.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Manually boot into cwm and backup, the app doesnt work properly. I tried backing up a rom and it said it was backed up after 10 seconds. The rom file was 3 mbs...the backup should be near 100, if not more.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA Premium App

Gotta add my cold water here. ROM manager has been less than useless for me, screwing up things every time I've tried it.
Stick to backing up the entire system from CWM, and a full backup via Titanium to have access to individual apps as needed. This has always worked for me, and many others here.
Sent from my mind using telepathitalk

So if I ODIN my phone with a new modem and flash a completely different rom, I can still restore with a backup made with a different ROM? Thanks.

durrett syndrome said:
So if I ODIN my phone with a new modem and flash a completely different rom, I can still restore with a backup made with a different ROM? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically, yes, but it is not recommended. Restoring data when moving between roms is usually when errors start happening. Also Rom manager does not work with the epic so there is probably no data in the file it created. You would have to boot into clockwork mod and backup from there.or use titanium backup and then restore just the apps when you switch roms.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Just my 2 cents...everyone here keeps saying to use Titanium, give Mybackup Root a try. Its free and has a good UI. Titanium seems to make it more complicated than it needs to be.
Other than that, the other posts here are correct, it doesnt matter what ROM you are running when you make or restore a backup, apps and their data will transfer and restore just fine, BUT like stated by others, system data does not always play well between ROMs and in my opinion you are better off not trying to restore that when you switch between ROMs...has given me more than one headache.

+1 on MyBackup Root. I find it to be more user friendly and just as effective as Titanium as well. I make a backup of everything (apks,data,photos,system settings, etc) at 4am everyday while I'm asleep. I plan on sticking with ACS so this is just a security net since they still do not use journaling. However if I want to try a different rom I can always choose to restore only the apks from the backup file.

The epic has not gotten rom manager support yet so it doesn't work and cwm can fail if you are switching between cm7 and acs cwm will give you a md5 mismatch so I had to re flash acs then restore data. So use titanium to restore apps.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

Restore appdata after flashing ROMs

I've been flashing ROMs for a while. Tried many different kernels of coarse that are compatible with the ROM, and as far as I know I've been doing it the way it should be done. However, one thing I haven't tried is restoring the progress/saves/data of my apps. I gave it some thought and figured this should be possible and I just haven't looked into it. I hope it is, I am now 3weeks into the same ROM and I want to update already but I don't want to loose my progress. If it is possible could someone help me or point me in a direction where I can get help. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

If your switching roms completely I would recommend titanium backup. With that you can backup apps and app data. If you are simply upgrading the same rom, just wipe cache partition and dalvik cache then flash. All your apps and data stay. Just the updatetd files are plugged into the rom.
As far as your suggested method, I have no idea. Never really tried or looked into anything else. I guess it never really was necessary.

^ I may be making this more complicated then it already is but if I were to switch to titanium backup would i have to switch to AmonRA recovery since I already have clockworkmod recovery with ROMmanager? Also If I may want to try a different ROM other than the update, is there another route besides titanium backup (assuming I would have to switch to amonRA). I ask this because I've looked through the SD folders and found a folder called Android that had some apps in it, I'm wondering if there is a folder such as this I can copy and restore if I were to Switch ROMs?

titanium backup is just an app. it has nothing to do with recovery, so no, you dont have to switch recoveries

Mybackup root is also another free alternative app.

Titanium Backup saves all the app/data information onto your SD card, that way when you flash another rom you have to download the app again and you could reinstall just the app, or app with user data.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA Premium App

Titanium Backup is a lifesaver. Before I flash a new ROM, I make sure my app backups are straight, then after flashing the ROM, all I have to do is go to the Market, redownload Titanium Backup, then restore all my apps. It allows me to change ROMs in an afternoon and be using my phone that night like any night before. Buy the full version, because you need it to restore apps in one big batch operation.

JaylanPHNX said:
Titanium Backup is a lifesaver. Before I flash a new ROM, I make sure my app backups are straight, then after flashing the ROM, all I have to do is go to the Market, redownload Titanium Backup, then restore all my apps. It allows me to change ROMs in an afternoon and be using my phone that night like any night before. Buy the full version, because you need it to restore apps in one big batch operation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can do batch restore with the free version also
Sent from my wickedly brilliant Virtuos Fusion 3.0 Android powered myTouch 4G using XDA Premium App

[Q] A few random questions about cwm, backup etc

I have successfully rooted my device using the version 2.0.0 of the toolkit. I think I'm going to donate a few euros to get the latest, the author deserves all the money.
A few questions:
What exactly is CWM? What's the difference between a backup made with titanium backup and a backup made with CWM? Is it enough to backup the system settings or do I need to backup even the apps? I mean the list of installed and purchased apps should be always available on the Google play account, at least I hope so...
Should I download the latest version of CWM (the . IMG file) and flash it with the toolkit or should I use the integrated version that seems to be IN the toolkit?
Thanks in advance for the answers.

A CWM backup will backup everything. If you restore it, your device will be exactly the same as it was when the backup was made.
Titanium backup only backs up apps and their data

But with titanium backup do I need to backup all the or only their data?
Is CWM useful even to install other Roms?
Sorry for the confusion: I'm not an expert.

Clock work mod will backup your entire android build as it is. all data, apps, settings, contacts, messages. etc
Titanium will backup apps and their data only
If you bork your software or try another rom then decide you want to go back, a Cwm backup will take you right back to the exact point you made the backup
Titanium is useful to have when changing roms because after loading a new one you can load your previous apps & data into your new rom whereas Cwm would completely overwrite the rom
In essence they are similar but perform completely different tasks
Sent from my Nexus 7
With titanium I usually just backup all user apps with data (meaning anything you have downloaded that is not part of the rom)
You cannot flash a new rom with titanium. that is what Cwm is for
Cwm deals with the roms
Titanium deals with apps

CWM & Backup
nihil39 said:
I have successfully rooted my device using the version 2.0.0 of the toolkit. I think I'm going to donate a few euros to get the latest, the author deserves all the money.
A few questions:
What exactly is CWM? What's the difference between a backup made with titanium backup and a backup made with CWM? Is it enough to backup the system settings or do I need to backup even the apps? I mean the list of installed and purchased apps should be always available on the Google play account, at least I hope so...
Should I download the latest version of CWM (the . IMG file) and flash it with the toolkit or should I use the integrated version that seems to be IN the toolkit?
Thanks in advance for the answers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
CWM is a recovery mod used for Flashing new rom while at the same time gives you handy things to do like, do a NANDROID- Creating a image for ur current rom and all its sys settings with apps and there data. U can also Flash other things like a previously created Update.zip for Titanium Backup, which is helpful after u have flashed a new rom and want all ur previous apps and data back.
A small thing a consider sharing, When Flashing a new ROM, Back up only the apps+data thing and not the System. As ur new ROM will have its own System settings (better to adjust it then than bfore). Now, also Create an update.zip, which a mentioned earlier from TitBckp Menu.
Have Fun.

bagofcrap24 said:
Clock work mod will backup your entire android build as it is. all data, apps, settings, contacts, messages. etc
Titanium will backup apps and their data only
If you bork your software or try another rom then decide you want to go back, a Cwm backup will take you right back to the exact point you made the backup
Titanium is useful to have when changing roms because after loading a new one you can load your previous apps & data into your new rom whereas Cwm would completely overwrite the rom
In essence they are similar but perform completely different tasks
Sent from my Nexus 7
With titanium I usually just backup all user apps with data (meaning anything you have downloaded that is not part of the rom)
You cannot flash a new rom with titanium. that is what Cwm is for
Cwm deals with the roms
Titanium deals with apps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
I still don't get the point of backing up apps. I mean: their settings (and system settings) ok but why backup something that can be downloaded again from google play store? I guess my account keeps record of my installed and (above all) purchased apps (tapatalk only). Am I wrong?
Other question:
I'm using the stock Jelly Bean 4.1.1 rooted and I don't want to mess with cooked roms whatsoever. I rooted the device in order to get USB on the go support and TiBackup.
Will I get updates from google or I will have to manually flash a rooted version of an updated Rom? I think I will have to install CWM at the end, I guess

etgine sandy
nihil39 said:
Thanks.
I still don't get the point of backing up apps. I mean: their settings (and system settings) ok but why backup something that can be downloaded again from google play store? I guess my account keeps record of my installed and (above all) purchased apps (tapatalk only). Am I wrong?
Other question:
I'm using the stock Jelly Bean 4.1.1 rooted and I don't want to mess with cooked roms whatsoever. I rooted the device in order to get USB on the go support and TiBackup.
Will I get updates from google or I will have to manually flash a rooted version of an updated Rom? I think I will have to install CWM at the end, I guess
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please answer at least the last question...

nihil39 said:
Please answer at least the last question...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Edit: If google release an update, you dont have to relock it

Jordanooo said:
If google release an update, i think you will have to relock your bootloader to get it officially.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You do not have to lock your bootloader to get an update only reason to lock it is if you have to return it
Sent from my BAKED Nexus

spaceman860 said:
You do not have to lock your bootloader to get an update only reason to lock it is if you have to return it
Sent from my BAKED Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, in my condition (rooted stock rom) will I get the official google updates without doing anything?

You will still get the updates but Cwm will not be able to install them.
You would need the stock recovery to apply ota updates
In reference to your previous question regarding titanium. You could re download the apps from play store after a wipe.
Titanium also restores any preferences you had saved. And in the case of games it will also restore your progress & game saves
Sent from my Nexus 7

Thanks, so there's no point in backing up the whole app, we only need its data and settings.
I haven't installed cwm yet. Did you use the toolkit downloadable from another thread in this forum? If yes, does the toolkit automatically download the latest version of cwm?

I'm not sure with the tooolkits
I have never rated them
It's much wiser to learn to do these things manually as it really doesn't take very much learning and it's always valuable to know what to do in case you bork something
Sent from my Nexus 7

Does cwm also backup sripts like link2sd and 2nd fat32 partition?