Database Users

[Help Needed] Apps won't restore or install after flashing rom [SOLVED!]

Well, my first venture into rom flashing hasn't been the most successful one as it's caused a really strange issue that a couple people on another thread have tried to help me solve, but I figure I had hijacked that thread long enough so this issue deserved it's own thread.
I rooted, unlocked bootloader, and installed TWRP v2.4.0.0 on Stock Android 4.1.1. Everything worked great. Until I flashed a rom. Now, I have been through wiping Cache, Dalvik Cache, Factory Reset, Flashing the rom (I've tried 4 with the same exact issue), flashing Gapps... All seems to go well and it says "success" when I flash, and I reboot into system. Run the setup of Google. Everything seems great and working fine. Here's where the problem is. When Google Play Store starts downloading for restore, and I'm on a solid wifi connection, nothing downloads. I have also tried stopping the downloads and installing apps individually. When I do that, I receive the same error message over and over for any app:
Unknown error code during application install: "-24"
I've rebooted, wiped cache, dalvik cache. Nothing installs. Same error. I did somehow, some way, get Titanium backup to install after numerous tries... when I try to restore any of that backup it just hangs on the first app. It does not restore anything. No batch apps. No single apps. No app data.
The odd thing is, the first time I flashed a rom, it seemed to load up fine. Stupidly, when I was running Titanium Backup for a restore I was not paying attention to what I was restoring. I was restoring all apps and app data... It caused an issue and a bunch of force closes, as you can probably imagine. So I rebooted into recovery and wiped and reinstalled rom and gapps. And virtually nothing has installed since. I have wiped and reinstalled AOKP, PACman, Carbon, and CM to no avail. Nothing seems to solve my issue. I'd love to at the very least be able to regularly install apps from the Play Store. At this point I'm not even concerned with restoring app data if that's too much to ask. I just want to be able to use my phone normally again as this is my "daily driver". If I have to go back to 4.1.1, that would be fine with me. I just want to get back to normal. And I'll do whatever it takes to get there. Any help at all would be appreciated.
Here is the original thread that some people have been giving me great advice on as to what to do, but none of it has fixed the issue yet unfortunately:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2341470

Jersey846 said:
Well, my first venture into rom flashing hasn't been the most successful one as it's caused a really strange issue that a couple people on another thread have tried to help me solve, but I figure I had hijacked that thread long enough so this issue deserved it's own thread.
I rooted, unlocked bootloader, and installed TWRP v2.4.0.0 on Stock Android 4.1.1. Everything worked great. Until I flashed a rom. Now, I have been through wiping Cache, Dalvik Cache, Factory Reset, Flashing the rom (I've tried 4 with the same exact issue), flashing Gapps... All seems to go well and it says "success" when I flash, and I reboot into system. Run the setup of Google. Everything seems great and working fine. Here's where the problem is. When Google Play Store starts downloading for restore, and I'm on a solid wifi connection, nothing downloads. I have also tried stopping the downloads and installing apps individually. When I do that, I receive the same error message over and over for any app:
Unknown error code during application install: "-24"
I've rebooted, wiped cache, dalvik cache. Nothing installs. Same error. I did somehow, some way, get Titanium backup to install after numerous tries... when I try to restore any of that backup it just hangs on the first app. It does not restore anything. No batch apps. No single apps. No app data.
The odd thing is, the first time I flashed a rom, it seemed to load up fine. Stupidly, when I was running Titanium Backup for a restore I was not paying attention to what I was restoring. I was restoring all apps and app data... It caused an issue and a bunch of force closes, as you can probably imagine. So I rebooted into recovery and wiped and reinstalled rom and gapps. And virtually nothing has installed since. I have wiped and reinstalled AOKP, PACman, Carbon, and CM to no avail. Nothing seems to solve my issue. I'd love to at the very least be able to regularly install apps from the Play Store. At this point I'm not even concerned with restoring app data if that's too much to ask. I just want to be able to use my phone normally again as this is my "daily driver". If I have to go back to 4.1.1, that would be fine with me. I just want to get back to normal. And I'll do whatever it takes to get there. Any help at all would be appreciated.
Here is the original thread that some people have been giving me great advice on as to what to do, but none of it has fixed the issue yet unfortunately:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2341470
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 suggestions:
1) i think others have reported having issues with TWRP 2.4, so try 2.5 or 2.3.2.3
2) I think the error could be a lack of internal storage, so certainly try the "wipe internal storage" in TWRP (after making sure that your ROM/GApp files, backups (including Tibu) are saved to your external folder

jco23 said:
2 suggestions:
1) i think others have reported having issues with TWRP 2.4, so try 2.5 or 2.3.2.3
2) I think the error could be a lack of internal storage, so certainly try the "wipe internal storage" in TWRP (after making sure that your ROM/GApp files, backups (including Tibu) are saved to your external folder
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok giving this a shot. I did notice that you had mentioned a different version of TWRP than I had. I will try the wiping internal storage before I install a different TWRP then if that doesn't work, TWRP. Gotta find the external folder. Unless you just mean anything that is on the actual SD card.

Jersey846 said:
Ok giving this a shot. I did notice that you had mentioned a different version of TWRP than I had. I will try the wiping internal storage before I install a different TWRP then if that doesn't work, TWRP. Gotta find the external folder. Unless you just mean anything that is on the actual SD card.
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i would actually recommend installing TWRP 2.5 first.
never wipe external SD card.
if you have an app called Root Explorer, that works best.

jco23 said:
i would actually recommend installing TWRP 2.5 first.
never wipe external SD card.
if you have an app called Root Explorer, that works best.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok I'll try 2.5 then. And I wasn't gonna wipe the card, just was wondering if when you said external folder you were talking about the SD card. Root explorer works great.. if i could install it.
EDIT: Since I am away from my computer, I tried the multiple wipe method. Didn't change anything. So I will be changing TWRP versions later and will post an update.

Jersey846 said:
Ok I'll try 2.5 then. And I wasn't gonna wipe the card, just was wondering if when you said external folder you were talking about the SD card. Root explorer works great.. if i could install it.
EDIT: Since I am away from my computer, I tried the multiple wipe method. Didn't change anything. So I will be changing TWRP versions later and will post an update.
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Click to collapse
You never mentioned using TWRP 2.4. DEFINITELY replace that. Also, just a thought. If you haven't already done so, try using the option to fix permissions. I'm fairly sure its an option in TWRP.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium

Back in business! Wow thank you all so much! What a pain it's been but without the help I'd have never guessed how to get this running as perfectly as it is now. Here's what worked for me:
Installed TWRP 2.5 (Instead of what I had, 2.4)
Then followed jco23's precise directions:
jco23 said:
- I use TWRP 2.3.2.3 (SS has been uninstalled via it's own app, not Tibu or the system awhile ago) - but TWRP 2.5 works just fine for others
- after downloading the ROM and GApps (or any file that I intended to flash for that matter), I always place the file on the mnt/external1 directory. I
m not sure if this will make a difference, but I recall it being an issue back on my Droid Charge days
- after flashing the files, does TWRP say successful?
- perhaps you do need to a double wipe of everything prior to flashing:
1) mount everything
2) wipe cache
3) wipe dalvik cache
4) wipe system
5) factory reset/wipe data
6) wipe internal storage (if you do this, make sure to change your TiBu backup folder to your external1 directory, or this will be gone too!!!!! also make sure that the system backup you made is on the external1 directory as well
7) reboot recovery
8) install ROM
9) install GApps
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And it's working flawlessly. Able to download or restore anything from Gapps. Was able to restore some specific app data from Titanium Backup (did not want to ruin the phone again and do that full restore so I selected specific apps that I really wanted the data on).
Thanks to everyone who took the time to assist me and a special thanks to jco23 and netizenmt who were with me through this whole debacle, leading me through every possible fix they could think of. As for those of you that may be wondering which ROM I settled on... AOKP.

Good for you bro! That stinking TWRP 2.4.0 is such a menace! Wish there was a way to have it yanked from circulation. Glad you're up and running!
Sent from my Droid Razr M using xda premium

Jersey846 said:
Back in business! Wow thank you all so much! What a pain it's been but without the help I'd have never guessed how to get this running as perfectly as it is now. Here's what worked for me:
Installed TWRP 2.5 (Instead of what I had, 2.4)
Then followed jco23's precise directions:
And it's working flawlessly. Able to download or restore anything from Gapps. Was able to restore some specific app data from Titanium Backup (did not want to ruin the phone again and do that full restore so I selected specific apps that I really wanted the data on).
Thanks to everyone who took the time to assist me and a special thanks to jco23 and netizenmt who were with me through this whole debacle, leading me through every possible fix they could think of. As for those of you that may be wondering which ROM I settled on... AOKP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
glad you finally got it working - this is just the first step in becoming a crack-flasher....

jco23 said:
glad you finally got it working - this is just the first step in becoming a crack-flasher....
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Click to collapse
Yeah, I've got it bad. I have had CM 10.1, Slimbean, Carbon AND AOKP on my phone all in the last 2 days. Carbon is on it right now. No telling what will be on it by tonight.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium

netizenmt said:
Yeah, I've got it bad. I have had CM 10.1, Slimbean, Carbon AND AOKP on my phone all in the last 2 days. Carbon is on it right now. No telling what will be on it by tonight.
Sent from my XT907 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
funny, and the goal is to find a ROM that you're happy with and don't need to flash.
but I've been on Carbon since 7/5, and very happy.

[Q] TWRP 'restore' fails every time.

Ok so after rooting and using Flashify to install Loki'd TWRP 2.3.6.2, I backed up my stock rooted. Then, I wiped and flashed PA 3.99. Other than this phone taking forever to do anything in TWRP, everything seemed fine. I booted into PA, installed my normal software setup, rebooted to recovery, and made a backup.
Now, if I try to restore (either stock rooted or PA, it fails. It says something about unchecking the MD5 verification option, which I have done in the general TWRP settings, as well as making sure it stays unchecked in the restore preferences. Have tried restoring to both stock rooted and PA from both a PA install, and a fresh stock rooted install. Both fail with the same error.
I'm backing up/restoring to/from the internal SD, not an OTG cable. my cable that worked fine for my Note 2 and HTC One does not work with my G2. I have also tried re-flashing TWRP in case it was a bad install or something.
Does anybody have any thoughts/suggestions on what I can do to be able to restore roms? I've never had any issues like this with any other device.

I'm interested in this as well. But honestly I haven't been able to restore a damn backup in quite some time using my Galaxy Nexus using TWRP and CWM. It just seems like it tries to, but fails toward the end.
I did a backup of my stock/unrooted but haven't tried to restore it yet. Have you thought or tried to use one of the GUI Apps from the Play Store that does Restore/Backups? I would also pull those backups off of your phone and onto a PC. You can always copy them back later but I've erased everything using TWRP a few too many times.
I would also suggest trying to use CWM to restore the backups. I've never tried to restore a Nandoid from one recovery using another, but it may work.
Sadly with restore not working, it is kind of scary to even attempt it. I would make sure I have some stock images laying around with the ability to adb push if need be. Keep this updated please with either findings or solutions. If I knew 100% that my Nandroid backup was able to be restored, I would attempt to try some of the custom roms out there.

player911 said:
I'm interested in this as well. But honestly I haven't been able to restore a damn backup in quite some time using my Galaxy Nexus using TWRP and CWM. It just seems like it tries to, but fails toward the end.
I did a backup of my stock/unrooted but haven't tried to restore it yet. Have you thought or tried to use one of the GUI Apps from the Play Store that does Restore/Backups? I would also pull those backups off of your phone and onto a PC. You can always copy them back later but I've erased everything using TWRP a few too many times.
I would also suggest trying to use CWM to restore the backups. I've never tried to restore a Nandoid from one recovery using another, but it may work.
Sadly with restore not working, it is kind of scary to even attempt it. I would make sure I have some stock images laying around with the ability to adb push if need be. Keep this updated please with either findings or solutions. If I knew 100% that my Nandroid backup was able to be restored, I would attempt to try some of the custom roms out there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I have only tried directly through TWRP. I've been flashing phones and tablets for years, but only using TWRP and CWM. I've been using TWRP lately because it's gui is nicer and until now, I've never run into any problems with it.
And yes, restore not working scares me. I know I can adb stock if I screw things up, but I hope it doesn't come to that. I guess for now I'll keep running stock rooted (despite it's horribly ugly unlock animations) and just wait for official AOKP with 4.4...

Twrp backup

I have 2 backups that I have tried to restore while using twrp 3.0. No h seem like they restore but when the phone gets to the screen where it would eventually say Android after the animation never goes away and the phone doesn't boot all the way up. Has anyone else had this problem or know a solution. When I did my back ups I backed up everything available including vendor and vendor.img. I just continue to get a bootloop and phone doesn't boot. Thank u to anyone who may help

This happened to me as well even before trwp 3.0. It worked for me once I restored only boot, system, and data.

janedoesmith said:
This happened to me as well even before trwp 3.0. It worked for me once I restored only boot, system, and data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I think I tried this how you've said but I'll try again later as I need to make sure my phone is working for now.

Since day 1 I've always backed up boot, system and data. Not sure why anyone would ever back up anything else. Takes up too much space and is unnecessary. I've never had one issue. On all past devices (all Nexus) I've always backed up boot, data and system. New twrp is great! Now we can flash vendor images!! ?
Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

Issues restoring backup

Mostly just out of curiosity I flashed a new ROM this weekend. I decided I like pure nexus better so I flashed my backup from twrp but wound up in bootloop. Even though I've never had issues restoring ROMs with MANY other devices, I still followed the directions for backing it up very carefully. I also did a full wipe before trying to restore it. In fact after the 3rd attempt I accidentally wiped internal storage. So that wasn't the issue.
Only thing I can figure is I was using elemental kernel when I made the backup so maybe that was the problem? I don't see why it would matter (or how that would work--removing the kernel, make backup, flash kernel again...) but I'm really stumped on how I went wrong.

KLit75 said:
Mostly just out of curiosity I flashed a new ROM this weekend. I decided I like pure nexus better so I flashed my backup from twrp but wound up in bootloop. Even though I've never had issues restoring ROMs with MANY other devices, I still followed the directions for backing it up very carefully. I also did a full wipe before trying to restore it. In fact after the 3rd attempt I accidentally wiped internal storage. So that wasn't the issue.
Only thing I can figure is I was using elemental kernel when I made the backup so maybe that was the problem? I don't see why it would matter (or how that would work--removing the kernel, make backup, flash kernel again...) but I'm really stumped on how I went wrong.
Click to expand...
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What partitions did you backup/restore?

Heisenberg said:
What partitions did you backup/restore?
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Well Ive got the right guy to talk to Pretty sure it was what you suggested (system/data/boot/vendor boxes)
But I don't recall if I checked everyone to restore. However, I did store the backup on my computer. Even though I've since got everything back I can try again to restore it. But can you just confirm which I should check when I restore it?
I'll be certain to pay closer attention next time. Its just that this is one thing I had never struggled with. Thanks

KLit75 said:
Well Ive got the right guy to talk to Pretty sure it was what you suggested (system/data/boot/vendor boxes)
But I don't recall if I checked everyone to restore. However, I did store the backup on my computer. Even though I've since got everything back I can try again to restore it. But can you just confirm which I should check when I restore it?
I'll be certain to pay closer attention next time. Its just that this is one thing I had never struggled with. Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I recommend restoring system, data, boot, and vendor. Just make sure you're not restoring system image or vendor image.

Heisenberg said:
I recommend restoring system, data, boot, and vendor. Just make sure you're not restoring system image or vendor image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So simple. Thanks a lot!

KLit75 said:
So simple. Thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me know if you get it booting.

Heisenberg said:
Let me know if you get it booting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well yes. Thanks again. However, I've got something funky going on. Pin pointing is hard but yea the backup restored. Then I tweaked elemental kernel (nothing crazy, used stable profiles) maybe it was that and an xposed mod (thinking ifont because its one I only just started using lt recently). Anyway when I rebooted to install drivers for viper I got stuck in bootloop. This time I couldn't restore my backup. So I factory reset and reflashed pure nexus. Due to the time I couldn't try and restore the backup again but will try tonight. If I wasn't so hasty I could've deleted the modules list in twrp then maybe booted up but I'm not 100% it has anything to do with xposed. One other factor, it was using dark stock theme.
EVERYTHING I mentioned I've done/run on this ROM without issues but there's a combination of things that's causing the bootloop I think.

Back up help for a newbie

Howdy!
I had my 6T PERFECT, just like I wanted it.....exactly like I wanted it.
I downloaded the latest OOS update, clicked ok when it told me my phone would be unrooted after the update, something that DID NOT happen with my last update. I figured no problem, I will just root the phone after the update.
Well, TWRP recovery is gone. I boot into the Oxygen recovery screen. I have a Titanium backup folder that has a boat load of files I do not know how to use. TWRP still has a folder on my phone with 2 back ups in it.
I did a quick search and checked with google and can't find an answer simple enough for me to use.
How can I do a back up of my phone that will restore it just like it is, without me having to set up all the apps again, and set up my launchpad again like I want it.?
Question 2, how do I use the back up files I already have and will that do what I am wanting to do?
I may be hoping for something that does not exist, but I would like to root my phone, restore a backup, and upon reboot see the exact same phone I am looking at now. I can transfer the back up files to my computer no problem, but I don't know if that will accomplish my goal.
Thanks in advance!
JC the Newbie

https://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-6t/how-to/guide-local-upgrade-oos-losing-magisk-t3956818

Thanks Striatum, that will help in the future, however, it does not address the questions in my post.

PattayaGlock said:
Thanks Striatum, that will help in the future, however, it does not address the questions in my post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash again twrp through fastboot (many guides here and there) flash Magisk and restore your backup, either the twrp ones either titanium backup

Thank you. I will see if I can muddle through either of those.

It looks as though I may have asked the wrong question. Perhaps I should have asked "if my bootloader is already unlocked can I reflash twrp and magisk after an OOS OTA update without wiping my data". I am back up and running with a rooted phone and did not lose any of my data or settings. Thanks for the help.

PattayaGlock said:
It looks as though I may have asked the wrong question. Perhaps I should have asked "if my bootloader is already unlocked can I reflash twrp and magisk after an OOS OTA update without wiping my data". I am back up and running with a rooted phone and did not lose any of my data or settings. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
....I perfectly understood what you wanted to know.
This is basic knowledge, the answer is yes
How can you mess with your /data partition when twrp and Magisk are dealing with /boot partition

Thank you for the clarification.
Basic knowledge for you guys perhaps, but not for a newbie at the stage I am at. Well, where I was before you straightened me out! LOL.

After flashing a custom ROM in TWRP, when I reboot into recovery and click install, all of the directories have turned into folders with names that look like random letters and numbers, and I can no longer read/write from that internal SD card. Anyone know what is going on or have a solution? I don't want to lose my backups or data, that would suck. But if I have to to get my internal storage back, then fine. Thanks in advance if you can help!!!

boobteg2 said:
After flashing a custom ROM in TWRP, when I reboot into recovery and click install, all of the directories have turned into folders with names that look like random letters and numbers, and I can no longer read/write from that internal SD card. Anyone know what is going on or have a solution? I don't want to lose my backups or data, that would suck. But if I have to to get my internal storage back, then fine. Thanks in advance if you can help!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to post your issue in multiple threads...
This has nothing to do with backup it's an encryption hiccup.

PattayaGlock said:
It looks as though I may have asked the wrong question. Perhaps I should have asked "if my bootloader is already unlocked can I reflash twrp and magisk after an OOS OTA update without wiping my data". I am back up and running with a rooted phone and did not lose any of my data or settings. Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm in same position. I lost root/twrp after local update. I can just flash twrp again and magisk without loosing data?

callumbr1 said:
I'm in same position. I lost root/twrp after local update. I can just flash twrp again and magisk without loosing data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct. You can flash both without losing any data. That is exactly what I did......and exactly what I was unsure of.
JC