Database Users

Backup restore problem

Hi all... tonight I decided to try the Samurai kernel. Unfortunately, it boot-looped on me. No big deal I figured, I did a full nandroid before in ACS's CWM, so I'll just restore. Unortunately, doing so isn't working: all of my apps, data and settings are gone! It basically looks stock (although, interestingly, all the Sprint bloat I had manually removed before still seems to be gone, so the restore worked to a degree)... I've restored backups before and never had a problem so I'm guessing the kernel is somehow the culprit, but I think that got restored from the backup too so I don't know what's going on. I'm stock EI22 by the way.
Can anyone help me? I'm pretty frustrated at the moment.
Thanks,
Frank

Try restoring an older backup. If that works you can attempt an advanced restore data only from your recent backup to see if it was something in your setup.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App

That was a thought I had too... I tried TWO older backups that I still had, same problem. I also tried a factory reset and then a restore (in theory it shouldn't make any difference to factory wipe first, and sure enough it didn't, but figured it was worth a shot).
My only other thought is maybe if I odin back to stock, root & install recovery and then try the restore again... kind of a shot in the dark, really shouldn't matter, but maybe.

Did you clear cache and dalvik before flashing the new kernel? I wonder if ACS is the issue and if trying CWM 5 might help.

DroidApprentice said:
Did you clear cache and dalvik before flashing the new kernel? I wonder if ACS is the issue and if trying CWM 5 might help.
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I was thinking the same thing D. The only other thing I can think of is bad reads from the sd card.

Got rooted, installed custom recovery, lost root, now i'm confused...

So I used the Auto CF root and all went well. Next, I went back into recovery and installed the TWRP Recovery though odin. It installed fine. After that I noticed I no longer had root and I can't figure out how to get it back. Supersu was still installed, it just wouldn't work.
At this point, i've tried redoing the root process a couple of times and it says that it worked fine, but doesn't do the job. Anyone got any ideas on what to do?
If anyone's curious, I started on totally stock OTA MF9.
Thanks

Just flash one of the stock rooted mf9 ROMs in the development thread pic one with no data wipe so you don't have to set everything up again.
SGS4 Sent

ifly4vamerica said:
Just flash one of the stock rooted mf9 ROMs in the development thread pic one with no data wipe so you don't have to set everything up again.
SGS4 Sent
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Thanks for the tip. Downloading the odexed version of this. Slow download so almost 2 hrs left.
[ROM][ZIP]Stock Rooted Deodexed/Odexed MF9 with SuperSU/Busybox 1.20.2
Hopefully it works. I tried wiping cache and dlvik cache and now when i turn the phone on it just keeps giving errors that this and that app can't open so the phone is essentially unusable. Didn't think wiping cache would do that.

Yeah sometimes things just go screwy. Have you tried fixing permissions? While you wait for a download you can wipe cache davlik and fix permissions its in the advanced menu of twrp. The odexed with no data wipe should fix you up I would recommend wiping cache davlik and system before you flash it. If it still gives errors you may have to wipe the data also and start fresh. You can also try TWRP version 5.0.2 if you aren't on it there is a flashable in the dev forum also. Some people have reported issues with the newer version. I think you will be fine flashing that stock odexed ROM though.
SGS4 Sent

Out of curiosity, would there be any danger in installing a custom rom while my phone is in this state? Downloading Blu Kuban Rom and it's going to finish much earlier than the stock rom. I know I would lose all my apps and need to reinstall those.

iivisionii said:
Out of curiosity, would there be any danger in installing a custom rom while my phone is in this state? Downloading Blu Kuban Rom and it's going to finish much earlier than the stock rom. I know I would lose all my apps and need to reinstall those.
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Click to collapse
Nope no danger at all. In fact I recommend blu Kuban. Its a nice ROM. Just do a full wipe of system data cache davlik and preload before flashing to avoid issues. All the custom ROMs have root built into them so you should be good to go.
SGS4 Sent

ifly4vamerica said:
Nope no danger at all. In fact I recommend blu Kuban. Its a nice ROM. Just do a full wipe of system data cache davlik and preloaded.
SGS4 Sent
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Click to collapse
Thanks. I'll have an update soon. Either that or a panic attack and a question in roughly 30-45 minutes.

Did you try to install super SU from the market. Maybe super user is acting up on you.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

daniel4653 said:
Did you try to install super SU from the market. Maybe super user is acting up on you.
Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
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I tried installing supersu from the market. Next I even tried downloading it to my phone and loading the zip in recovery. No go both ways. I hoped wiping cache and delvick cache would help, but instead the phone is pretty much unusable now. It's really weird.

iivisionii said:
I tried installing supersu from the market. Next I even tried downloading it to my phone and loading the zip in recovery. No go both ways. I hoped wiping cache and delvick cache would help, but instead the phone is pretty much unusable now. It's really weird.
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Here goes that frantic post. I installed the rom, worked fine. I did one of the updates for the status bar, now whenever it goes to boot it gets stuck at the samsung galaxy s4 screen. I've tried doing a full wipe, wiping cache and delvick cache and even trying to install the stock rooted rom or the blu rom on top of itself and i still get the same thing. Any ideas? I'm trying not to be too flash happy because I don't want a brick.

iivisionii said:
Here goes that frantic post. I installed the rom, worked fine. I did one of the updates for the status bar, now whenever it goes to boot it gets stuck at the samsung galaxy s4 screen. I've tried doing a full wipe, wiping cache and delvick cache and even trying to install the stock rooted rom or the blu rom on top of itself and i still get the same thing. Any ideas? I'm trying not to be too flash happy because I don't want a brick.
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Have you tried the battery pull trick once frozen?

ObrienDave said:
Have you tried the battery pull trick once frozen?
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I finally got out of the boot logo. I looked around the forums and found someone with a similar problem. Seems the recovery wasn't deleting all the files for him so he deleted everything manually instead of just wiping. I did the same and installed triforce rom and it's booted now.
Just for future reference though, would you mind explaining or pointing me to where I can read about the battery pull trick?

iivisionii said:
I finally got out of the boot logo. I looked around the forums and found someone with a similar problem. Seems the recovery wasn't deleting all the files for him so he deleted everything manually instead of just wiping. I did the same and installed triforce rom and it's booted now.
Just for future reference though, would you mind explaining or pointing me to where I can read about the battery pull trick?
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Click to collapse
Basically, quite a few people have recommended pulling the battery once frozen.
Even when you do a power off, you are NOT completely removing power from the system.
Disconnecting the power is the only way to accomplish this.

ObrienDave said:
Basically, quite a few people have recommended pulling the battery once frozen.
Even when you do a power off, you are NOT completely removing power from the system.
Disconnecting the power is the only way to accomplish this.
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Click to collapse
Ah ok. Good tip to know. I had tried that and it didn't work. Seems to be working ok now. I'm gonna be careful not to screw it up cuz its already 1 am, hehe. Thanks for everyone's tips.

[Q] Galaxy s4 Rooted and Custom Rom Problems

I have a Canadian S4 and rooted using the twrp method and then installed the vigin google play edition rom. Everything worked fine at first when I installed it but i was fiddling around after in twrp and thought i should format the internal storage and start completely fresh and now if I install any rom including my original backup the device will boot up into the system fine for the first time but if the device resets after that it just hangs on the galaxy S4 logo and i have to reboot into recovery and flash again. Any ideas on how i could fix this? Thanks!!!

Try this, in twrp go into advanced wipe and wipe dalvik cache, cache, system, data and android secure. Then flash your nandroid.

I don't have a nandroid I have a twrp backup

Jaygrippa said:
I don't have a nandroid I have a twrp backup
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Click to collapse
That is a nandroid.

Dont use TWRP for the S4
From what I have experience and I believe others have as well, if you used TWRP to format where you had to type yes, you are pretty much screwed trying to get things working properly again. Maybe it is certain phones, sd cards, roms, who knows, but after I typed yes in TWRP to format everything, I could flash a rom but couldnt restart and things were buggy. I had to use odin to flash back to stock, re-root and flash the rom again. Now everything is 190% considering my battery life went from 6 hours to 28 with medium usage.
I have always loved TWRP on my other phones, but for the S4, its more frustration and using with caution than its worth.
Another word of caution, use windows to fix your phone. Im on linux and its too much of a pain in the ass to use odin/heimdall to go back to stock for newbs. On windows I went to stock and rooted again in no time.
Good luck!

jd1639 said:
That is a nandroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After doing that stuff in twrp should I flash right back to my backup of stock touch wiz or straight into the ROM of my choosing? Whenever I would have to reflash I would have to format he internal memory or it wouldn't work

Ya I did the thing where I typed yes... Crap ya its my first time doing all this stuff so you suggest I Re do all of the rooting stuff and then flash my backup I made?

Jaygrippa said:
Ya I did the thing where I typed yes... Crap ya its my first time doing all this stuff so you suggest I Re do all of the rooting stuff and then flash my backup I made?
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Click to collapse
You might have to. I had the same problem today where if the phone rebooted I would just get a black screen. I ended up using Odin with the stock rom, reinstalling twrp and then restoring my backup. I'm pretty sure it was a rom I flashed that caused the initial problem and only Odin would clear things up.

Start Over
Jaygrippa said:
Ya I did the thing where I typed yes... Crap ya its my first time doing all this stuff so you suggest I Re do all of the rooting stuff and then flash my backup I made?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually its going back to stock, then rerooting. All I did was follow androidrootz guide here:
http://www.androidrootz.com/2013/06/how-to-unroot-unbrick-galaxy-s4.html
After that, motochopper back to get root and followed this guide to install OUDHS recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2291956
This worked for me, at least for now. Hope it can help you out.

ericchaffey said:
Actually its going back to stock, then rerooting. All I did was follow androidrootz guide here:
http://www.androidrootz.com/2013/06/how-to-unroot-unbrick-galaxy-s4.html
After that, motochopper back to get root and followed this guide to install OUDHS recovery:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2291956
This worked for me, at least for now. Hope it can help you out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey thanks a bunch ill try that out later. I am at work right now and i can still use my phone on the rom i have just as long as i dont reset it. Ill try all of this out when i get home and see if that works. Thanks for everyones help
Now the only problem is i have to find a Fido ROM

Jaygrippa said:
Hey thanks a bunch ill try that out later. I am at work right now and i can still use my phone on the rom i have just as long as i dont reset it. Ill try all of this out when i get home and see if that works. Thanks for everyones help
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Click to collapse
A couple other notes, to avoid other possible problems, use the original samsung cord when connecting to your computer. Switching USB ports can help if there are transfer or other issues. Its pretty easy and straight forward if everything works out well, but there are so many gawt dayum variables that minor issues can cause problems, though may never manifest.
Hopefully this works and please post some results to help the same in need.

ericchaffey said:
A couple other notes, to avoid other possible problems, use the original samsung cord when connecting to your computer. Switching USB ports can help if there are transfer or other issues. Its pretty easy and straight forward if everything works out well, but there are so many gawt dayum variables that minor issues can cause problems, though may never manifest.
Hopefully this works and please post some results to help the same in need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ya thinks i will, now im just in the process of finding a rom for Fido, they are owned by rogers so im not sure if the rogers rom will work, This android stuff is so stressful its my first android phone so i hope all goes well!

Jaygrippa said:
Ya thinks i will, now im just in the process of finding a rom for Fido, they are owned by rogers so im not sure if the rogers rom will work, This android stuff is so stressful its my first android phone so i hope all goes well!
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Click to collapse
I get firmware from sammobile.com. You have to register but it's free. You'll download a zip. Use 7-zip to extract the .tar.md5 file from it. Use that in Odin, PDA.

jd1639 said:
I get firmware from sammobile.com. You have to register but it's free. You'll download a zip. Use 7-zip to extract the .tar.md5 file from it. Use that in Odin, PDA.
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Click to collapse
ya even they dont have a specific "Fido" firmware...

Anyone know if I can just use the Rogers ROM its pretty much the same company

Jaygrippa said:
Anyone know if I can just use the Rogers ROM its pretty much the same company
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It'll work. It'll just put their bloatware on and the boot animation will be theirs

Reflashed
Ok so i reflashed to the stock rom using odin and bam it works again, im just wondering what is a good way now too root, and install the same rom i had

This will have everything you need http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=42320391

Thanks everyone for your help, I got my phone back up and running stock, then i rooted using CF- Autoroot and installed twrp again. I then reinstalled the rom i wanted to use and everything is in tip top order

Jaygrippa said:
Thanks everyone for your help, I got my phone back up and running stock, then i rooted using CF- Autoroot and installed twrp again. I then reinstalled the rom i wanted to use and everything is in tip top order
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to here it. Have fun.

Need help/overwhelmed! Noob flashing to GPE 5.0.1?

Hi,
I want to install the ROM here on my Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT-I9505). I rooted and installed CM on it about 4 months ago, but since have forgotten anything about the process except for towelroot lol. My phone is currently running jflte snapshot M10 ROM for CM. Unfortunately, I have grown quite sick of it as I find I have to restart my phone once, maybe twice a day for everything to run smoothly. I run into problems where the WiFi likes to get stuck saying 'Turning on..'. Ive also been having problems with Google Maps and GPS lately and havent been able to rely on it, possibly its an issue its having with CM. I want to have the fresh Lollipop feel on my phone without any problems if possible. The only trouble is I dont know how to get there. Can anyone help me? Ive completely forgotten the process needed and when I try to look for it on here I am overwhelmed with things I need to do, which version I need to use etc etc. If anyone would be able to help me achieve this it would be greatly appreciated. In the end I just want a nice Lollipop android phone that doesn't have problems on my current S4 (Id rather not have to get a new phone at least until December ) I'm pretty sure I dont have a custom kernel or anything like that as it mentioned in some pages that I will need to get one I think? I also have philz CWM installed.

You have Philz installed, so you don't need to root again. Download the ROM and follow the instructions on the page.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
You have Philz installed, so you don't need to root again. Download the ROM and follow the instructions on the page.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It also mentioned to make sure I have the latest modem for my variant, how do I check/update that?
In regards to the kernel (which has a link on the same page), what do I do with that?

I don't have the latest modem for my I9505 and that ROM works perfectly fine. Where you've been on a custom ROM for a while finding out which modem you're supposed to use may be difficult. That's also why I recommend not worrying about it, unless you need to.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I don't have the latest modem for my I9505 and that ROM works perfectly fine. Where you've been on a custom ROM for a while finding out which modem you're supposed to use may be difficult. That's also why I recommend not worrying about it, unless you need to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks. In regards to the kernel that is linked on the page, I guess I would be at an advantage if I downloaded and installed that too. How do I install it?

If' we're talking the same GPE ROM, and I think we are, the kernel is included in the ROM download. You'll be prompted to select a kernel when you run the install through the recovery.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
If' we're talking the same GPE ROM, and I think we are, the kernel is included in the ROM download. You'll be prompted to select a kernel when you run the install through the recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks a lot!
So process:
Backup data/photos etc
Nandroid backup
Full wipe using philz?
Flash ROM
Done?

You've got it.
When you are prompted to select the kernel, use the Googy Max kernel. The stock kernel sometimes causes random reboots. Also, on first boot the S4 will sit for a fair amount of time before prompting you to set a language. THIS IS NORMAL. It's because Android 5.0.x uses Art instead of Dalvik, and has to compile the apps the first time around.
In other words, after rebooting, just be patient.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
You've got it.
When you are prompted to select the kernel, use the Googy Max kernel. The stock kernel sometimes causes random reboots. Also, on first boot the S4 will sit for a fair amount of time before prompting you to set a language. THIS IS NORMAL. It's because Android 5.0.x uses Art instead of Dalvik, and has to compile the apps the first time around.
In other words, after rebooting, just be patient.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thanks a lot for the help! Greatly appreciated. Hope I dont run into any problems

I installed that ROM on Sunday, so what I did is still fresh in my mind. If you have problems, just use this thread and quote me. I'll do my best to help.

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I installed that ROM on Sunday, so what I did is still fresh in my mind. If you have problems, just use this thread and quote me. I'll do my best to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
All installed, was quite easy! Looks bloody beautiful, love it already. Thanks a heap!

Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
I installed that ROM on Sunday, so what I did is still fresh in my mind. If you have problems, just use this thread and quote me. I'll do my best to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I made and error when backing up and didnt back up my photos onto a computer Is there any way that my nandroid recovery or titanium backup have saved my photos and how could I recover them?

jc258 said:
I made and error when backing up and didnt back up my photos onto a computer Is there any way that my nandroid recovery or titanium backup have saved my photos and how could I recover them?
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Click to collapse
No, they are gone forever.
How is that even possible that you wiped them? Wiping in the custom recovery never touches your internal storage by default. So you have done it yourself. You probably did a factory reset from within android itself. Never do that again. Use the custom recovery for wiping only and you never will have this problem again.

Lennyz1988 said:
No, they are gone forever.
How is that even possible that you wiped them? Wiping in the custom recovery never touches your internal storage by default. So you have done it yourself. You probably did a factory reset from within android itself. NEVER DO THAT AGAIN. Use the custom recovery for wiping only and you never will have this problem again.
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Click to collapse
Are you sure about that? It happened the first time I flashed a ROM. Wiped cache, wiped Dalvik through CWM. Never did a factory reset. No need for caps.

jc258 said:
Are you sure about that? It happened the first time I flashed a ROM. Wiped cache, wiped Dalvik through CWM. Never did a factory reset. No need for caps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's not possible for it to happen without you doing so. Unless you encrypted your phone or something.
ps removed the caps

The rom he installed has an aroma installer which offers the option to do a simple wipe (Dalvik, cache and data), no wipe (Dirty flash) and a factory reset (which also wipes the internal storage).
By default it is set on factory reset option.
It also says in red letters that this option is recommended.
So maybe he left it on factory reset (since it was also recommended) , instead of changing it to simple wipe, and that wiped the whole phone, including the internal storage.
Will a software that recovers deleted files not work? Since the phone wasn't encrypted.

It would if Windows saw the internal storage as a drive. Due to MTP it doesn't. He'll have to do a search, but there was another S4 owner who lost his photos and was trying to get them back. I don't know if a solution was ever found.

GDReaper said:
The rom he installed has an aroma installer which offers the option to do a simple wipe (Dalvik, cache and data), no wipe (Dirty flash) and a factory reset (which also wipes the internal storage).
By default it is set on factory reset option.
It also says in red letters that this option is recommended.
So maybe he left it on factory reset (since it was also recommended) , instead of changing it to simple wipe, and that wiped the whole phone, including the internal storage.
Will a software that recovers deleted files not work? Since the phone wasn't encrypted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that's the case then shame on the developer. A factory reset in a custom recovery should leave the internal storage intact.
Strephon Alkhalikoi said:
It would if Windows saw the internal storage as a drive. Due to MTP it doesn't. He'll have to do a search, but there was another S4 owner who lost his photos and was trying to get them back. I don't know if a solution was ever found.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it's impossible. Once it's gone the files are permanently gone. Not even a professional company can restore them. That's because of TRIM that Android has from version 4.3.

Lennyz1988 said:
If that's the case then shame on the developer. A factory reset in a custom recovery should leave the internal storage intact.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not in the recovery. It's in the aroma installer. Those are 2 different things.
Besides, there is a description, under each setting, of what each one does.

@Lennyz1988: Perhaps you should bring this up with the developers of the ROM and see what they say. I suspect they have a very good reason for wiping the internal storage, and my gut instinct tells me it has to do with the Android folder on there.
On the flip side, thanks for the homework you gave me. I have to look into what TRIM is all about, as my last device was powered by Gingerbread.

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...
Click to collapse
What partitions did you backup/restore?

Heisenberg said:
What partitions did you backup/restore?
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Click to collapse
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!
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Click to collapse
Let me know if you get it booting.

Heisenberg said:
Let me know if you get it booting.
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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.